ABSTRACT
Baseball's antitrust exemption has been linked to its player reserve system, which for almost a century gave a team sole rights over a player and forbade players to solicit competitive bids for their services. Despite the lingering presumed antitrust exemption, the fortunes of baseball steadily improved between 1965 and the end of the 1980s, aided by the demise of the reserve system and by a reverse-order amateur draft in which teams with the worst records choose first. Competitive balance improved and the era of team dynasties seemed to be gone forever. To promote competition and resolve the problems, Congress should contemplate a forced divestiture of Major League Baseball into two competing business entities. The entities would be allowed to collaborate on playing rules and on interleague and postseason play, but not to divide up metropolitan areas, establish common drafts or players' markets, or collude on broadcasting policy.
