The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989
David George Surdam
Abstract
Between 1951 and 1989, Congress held a series of hearings to investigate the antitrust aspects of professional sports leagues. Among the concerns: ownership control of players, restrictions on new franchises, territorial protection, and other cartel-like behaviors. This book chronicles the key issues that arose during the Congressional hearings and the ways by which opposing sides used economic data and theory to define what was right, what was feasible, and what was advantageous to one party or another. As the book shows, the hearings affected matters as fundamental to the modern game as broa ... More
Keywords: players' associations, Congress, antitrust, professional sports leagues, broadcast rights, player draft, merger, New York Yankees, Congressional hearings, franchises
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 | Print ISBN-13: 9780252039140 |
| Published to Illinois Scholarship Online: April 2017 | DOI:10.5406/illinois/9780252039140.001.0001 |
