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US: San Jose will appeal MLB antitrust case to Supreme Court

By  |  February 4, 2015

The City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court its antitrust lawsuit against Major League Baseball that seeks to allow the Oakland baseball club to move to San Jose.

The fans suing MLB claim that the broadcast territories reduce competition because regional sports networks don’t have to compete with each other to broadcast games in their local markets. They also argue that MLB has monopoly power over the rights to broadcast out-of-market games.

MLB made several failed attempts to have the case thrown out before trial. The latest rejection for MLB came last week when the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York refused to intervene.

City officials have eyed the Supreme Court as their only likely venue of victory, as it would need the justices to overturn precedent on antitrust law to succeed.

“This is about to get fun,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said after the closed-door vote.

 

Full Content: ABC News

 

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