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15 Sports Law. J. 21 (2008)
Player Mobility in Professional Sports: From the Reserve System to Free Agency

handle is hein.journals/sportlj15 and id is 23 raw text is: Player Mobility in Professional Sports: From the Reserve System to Free Agency Jonathan B. Goldberg* I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 21 II. THE RESERVE CLAUSE ................................................................... 22 III. CONTRACT CLAIMS ....................................................................... 25 A . Gross Inequity ...................................................................... 25 B. Irreparable Harm ................................................................... 26 IV ANTITRUST ATTACK ........................................................................ 27 A. Baseball'sAntitrustExemption ........................................... 29 B. The Labor Exemption ......................................................... 31 V LABOR LAW .................................................................................... 37 A. Players'Assocations ............................................................ 38 B. Marvin Miller ...................................................................... 41 VI. FREE AGENCY ................................................................................ 44 A . B aseball ............................................................................... 44 B. B asketball ............................................................................. 48 C. Football .................................................................................. 50 D H ockey .................................................................................. 53 V II. CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 56 I. INTRODUCTION Thirty-five years ago, professional athletes in the four major American sports leagues had virtually no control over their playing careers. Professional teams owned players like chattel, paid them salaries well below market value, and bound them to franchises for life. As players united and rebelled against this form of indentured servitude, the legal battles ascended to the Supreme Court of the United States. In a series of controversial opinions, the highest court crafted an exemption to the federal antitrust laws and unwittingly triggered the rise of sports unionization. Ultimately, the catalyst for the reserve system's collapse * © 2008 Jonathan B. Goldberg. J.D. magna cum laude 2007, Tulane University School of Law; B.A. cur laude 2004, Cornell University. The author would like to thank Professor Gabriel Feldman for his advice and guidance in writing this Article. 21