Reevaluating the Curt Flood Act of 1998

The enactment of the Curt Flood Act has directly coincided with - -and indeed helped to usher in -- MLB's longest sustained period of labor peace in nearly forty years. While it is, of course, difficult for outsiders to the negotiations between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to ascertain the precise impact of the CFA, the CFA's effect upon labor relations between players and owners is nevertheless apparent. The passage of the CFA has caused MLB owners to moderate their bargaining positions, resulting in more harmonious labor negotiations with the MLBPA. This Essay reconsiders the CFA's unexpected impact by first briefly reviewing the Act, and then examining how the CFA has changed the tenor of labor negotiations between MLB owners and the MLBPA.

The Essay concludes that despite the general skepticism at the time of its passage, the CFA has nevertheless helped foster baseball's recent, unprecedented labor peace.