Now I'm confused, but this AP story says that the sale of the Washington Nationals to the Theodore Lerner group got approval from U.S. antitrust authorities.
Of course, I thought baseball was exempt from antitrust laws. So what was the Federal Trade Commission investigating anyway? I thought that baseball enjoyed legal protections that made it possible for Bud Selig to order us all in to indentured servitude or force us to pledge allegiance to the MLB logo every morning.
I have no clue and haven't seen anything else about this, but I wonder if it has to do more with the Lerners (e.g. how does this acquisition fit with their other assets, does it give them power over any sort of entertainment market) than the mlb issues. The problem there is that the Lerners hold real estate, but no sports venues or entertainment type properties (other than malls w/Dave & Buster type places) as far as I recall. I have neighbor who works at the FTC who I've asked. Will let you know if I hear anything.
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Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.