The Birth of Free Agency | Retro Report

What determines where someone works? For most people, the answer involves choice. But for decades, professional baseball players had little say; team owners controlled their careers, backed by a legal framework that treated baseball not as a business, but as a game. That changed when Curt Flood, a former major league center fielder, challenged the system. In taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court, Flood risked his career to fight for players’ rights. Though he lost in court, his stand laid the groundwork for free agency and reshaped the economics of professional sports.