Over the past century, baseball has become affectionately known as the "National Pastime" in the United States. As this title connotes, baseball is more than just a sport or a form of entertainment. It is a phenomenon that grasps a nation's heart and unites its citizens under a common threshold. Thus, one would assume that the main goal of a Major League Baseball organization would necessarily reflect this commitment to the betterment of the American public. However, baseball remains to be a business, and as a business it often misconstrues its organizational objectives. Considering baseball from its production side, one witnesses the unfortunate divide between maximizing an organization's profits and providing a public good to the American people. Presently, it seems that Major League Baseball has decided to pursue individual profit maximization at the expense of society's well being. The primary contribution to this approach is the antitrust exemption that baseball has received from the Supreme Court. Through this legislation, the existing baseball league

The business of providing exhibition baseball games was a 'sport' and not 'trade' or 'commerce' for Sherman Act purposes. . . . The business of giving exhibitions of baseball is intrastate in character, it cannot be transferred across state lines. (McMahon and Rossi - Villanova University Sports and Entertainment Law Journal Vol. II: Issue 2, L.F. 213, p.7)

The main problem in each of these scenarios is that there is nothing to prevent producers from taking advantage of the consumer. There are no governing rules to incite enough fear into an organization to prevent it from acting in such a detrimental manner towards its consumers. Through its antitrust exemption and its subsequent monopoly power, baseball is able to manipulate the helpless public. There is nowhere for the consumer to turn for an alternate form of this type of entertainment. It is a lose-lose situation for baseball fans. A simple solution to this would be to overturn baseball's antitrust exemption and in so doing establish a competitive market between rival baseball leagues. Competing leagues can eliminate the inefficiency of a monopoly and in the process create a more consumer friendly market.

By deciding to allow baseball to be managed as a monopoly, the United States legislature is enabling Major League Baseball to harm the American public. It has turned the focus of baseball away from the benefit it provides to its consumers, and consequently towards the maximization of profits for franchise owners. Through its behavior as a monopoly, Major League Baseball is able to take advantage of the consumer and function in an inefficient manner while still allowing producers to obtain excessive profits. By operating as a monopoly, baseball is negatively affecting its consumers in a number of ways.

One of the fundamental theories of economics is Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand." In his work, The Wealth of Nations, Smith's "Invisible Hand" theory maintains that the pressure of a competitive market will direct the actions of producers toward providing society with a greater good. This is precisely what a competitive market would accomplish in Major League Baseball. By instituting a competitive structure, there would be a new system of checks and balances that would ensure the consumer that he or she is receiving goods and services at the lowest cost in the most efficient manner. The establishment of healthy competition is the instrument needed to place Major League Baseball's focus back in the right direction, on the well being of its consumers and players. The only way to create a competitive market is by overruling baseball's current antitrust exemption. It is only through this groundbreaking process that Major League Baseball will be able to function in concordance with the betterment of society as a whole. Only then will Major League Baseball truly fulfill its responsibility as America's "National Pastime."

First of all, competitive leagues would increase output, or the number of professional baseball franchises, in response to an increase in consumer demand. By providing additional teams, a competitive league increases overall consumer satisfaction and league profit. Even though a fan of a particular team may experience an initial decre

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Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)