Extra Innings · The Front Office
Packing Up for the South
State v. Milwaukee Braves, Inc. (1966)
Charge: State antitrust violation (restraint of trade) - state sued to stop a big-league club relocating out of its city (suit against the club and its league)Court: Supreme Court of WisconsinDocket: The Front Office
Can a state use its own antitrust law to stop a major-league club from moving to another state?
The facts
A Midwestern city's big-league club announced it would move to a growing Southern city. The state's attorney general sued the club and its league under the state's antitrust act, saying the league had shut the city out of major-league baseball. A trial judge agreed, fined the defendants and ordered the club to keep playing home games in the city unless the league placed a replacement team there. The defendants appealed, pointing to baseball's long-standing federal antitrust exemption and the interstate nature of the sport.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: State v. Milwaukee Braves, Inc., 31 Wis. 2d 699, 144 N.W.2d 1 (1966)
Read more at law.marquette.edu. The source reveals the outcome.