The CBA, truth, myths, and reality of it's impact

by denz on Dec 13, 2009 9:01 PM MST Comment 7 comments

I am not a big fan of unions, but I acknowledge they have played their role in the past I see them now as being as pointless, bloated, and corrupt. Now that being said let me say I think a young industry like MLS and their players need a union to try to protect the players and their rights but they also have to understand that 15 years ago their jobs didn't exist. While the players have been cashing checks for over a decade, you can count the profitable years or clubs on a single hand.

I do think there are some huge issues that need to be addressed by the current CBA (click here to read) as the situation has changed a lot since 2004 when the agreement was written. In fact many of the rules that people think are affected by the CBA actually have no mention in the document. For example:

The only roster size indicated in the CBA is the 18 man senior roster (that is why the overall roster size has changed from 28 to 24 last year without the CBA being impacted)
No mention of a salary cap, DP, or grandfathering players who make above the league max(something also not mentioned)
Number of international players- no mention of the current limits on the international players.

More details after the jump

Here are some of the issues that I think need to be addressed by the CBA:

Minimum salary for all players set at $40,000, I don't believe the CBA should set a cap but anyone who thinks the league can be an attractive career option for players while some make under $20 a year is simply not living in the real world
Milestone bonuses- MLS Cup, US Open Cup, and CONCACAF Champions Cup, the league should increase reward for MLS teams that make the finals of these tournament. Currently the MLS Cup Champions get a bonus of $165,000 which when you divide it by 24 (if a team splits it evenly) is just $6,875 per player. The second place team split $60,000. Outstanding performance has to be rewarded.
Freedom for players to negotiate personal promotional contracts, in this day and age when sponsorship deals can equal or surpass salaries players deserve the ability to sign their own deals. The league has failed to capitalize on the public relations value of players and I believe this could be handled better by the MLSPU or the players and their representatives.
Retirement and Free Agency- I do believe these issues need to be dealt with and based on the current CBA, the players actually do not have a bad deal but I do think there should be more done in the form of setting aside funds for players transition from playing to other careers. I do believe that the Free Agency issues are likely to not be dealt with as simply until teams control contracts having the league negotiate with the league over the move of players is going to be messy. I think this has to be addressed in concept but until the overall structure of the league and teams is dealt with, this issue likely will see no movement.

I believe there are more items but those three items seem like simple things that could benefit both the players and the league. I also believe there are some issues that should not be included into the CBA:

Guarantee Contracts - I know there are many who believe this is the keystone issue of this round of negotiations but given the current structure of the league I do not believe this is the time for such a clause to be included. When and if the teams can begin to sign their own contracts and not have to deal with the limits and restrictions of the MLS it is more likely that contracts could begin to be guaranteed. I use the example of Luis Miguel Escalada, a talented player who has been traded for over 1 million dollars but when given a chance to play with RSL failed to adapt to the demands of the staff and in the end was released after playing only 126 minutes. To say that RSL should have to continue to pay for him or keep him on their roster after it was clear the player wasn't going to be part of the teams plans would have crippled the team from making other moves and responsible for over $65,000 in salary.
DP rules or Salary Cap- the CBA will likely be a contract that covers at least 4 years and too much is likely to change in that amount of time. We would have had no DP's if that portion had been covered by the 2004 CBA, a time when the league had only 10 teams, who would have thought then that David Beckham, Juan Pablo Angel, or Freddie Ljungberg would be playing in MLS. I think the salary cap should be based on the overall health of the league, and not on a contract that can't see the economic future of the league or the US or global economy.
Roster sizes- I am torn over this having seen how the reduction of the MLS roster to 24 players in a move the league said was about saving money, but in turn left teams with few young developmental players and in some cases forced teams to spend large amounts of money sending players on short loans to USL sides and bringing them back anytime a player got injured or sick. I believe the league needs to figure out a way to work with the USL/NASL or simply form their own second division (minor league system) where young players can develop and where teams can form partnerships with those teams to allow the free movement of players up and down to remain sharp, get playing time to develop skills, and to recover from injuries.

There are a lot of issues that are on the horizon and some of them can be dealt with by the CBA but many more will not be, this being said neither side can survive a strike. The league and team has to understand that we are on the edge of soccer becoming more and more accepted in the US, the Summer of Soccer numbers prove it, a strike or lock out would simply cripple the league to a point where it would move back to step one of 1996. Players also have to realize that the sport is simply not hugely profitable yet in the US and while they deserve to get paid for their skills it may be better to be a bit underpaid than unemployed. While 10-20% of MLS players may be able to get jobs in other leagues a large number would simply be back working at Home Depot or somewhere else.

The crossroads of soccer and overall acceptance/success in the US is in sight and decisions made in the next 6 weeks could either move us closer to changing the sports landscape of the US or see the league become as many critics over the years have said it would, just another memory in US sports.

Here is hoping calmer heads prevail and both sides understand that a new deal is important to the long term growth of the sport, the success of Toronto, Seattle, and now Philly show that the US and Canada are hungry for soccer and now is the time to establish MLS as the solution for fans.

Here is an interesting read, I don't agree with all of it but it is educational (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/soccer_america/12/10/mls.union/index.html)

OFF MY SOAPBOX

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let me make one thing clear

I am not an expert in contracts or legal matters, I leave those up others. I do believe that the CBA plays a part in the future of MLS, but I believe it is a much smaller part than other matters.

I for one would love to see the franchise agreement between the owners (in title only) and the league, I would love to see the agreements between SUM and MLS (I think something stinks with one guy in charge of both), and I would love to see the contract with ESPN and MLS made public. When this league started it faced a ton of uphill battles but there was the knowledge that soccer was becoming more mainstream in the US, and now with dedicated cable channels covering the sport, magazines and the explosion of online information we are closer than ever to making soccer an accepted part of the sports landscape in the US. Now however is a time when the owners who have risked so much have to be given the freedom to run their organizations, with guidelines and rules like all leagues but could you imagine if every NFL player contract had to be negotiated with the league (acting as the agent for the team)?

The day for change is coming for MLS, and perhaps, just perhaps it starts with the CBA.

by denz on Dec 14, 2009 11:27 AM MST reply actions

Development

If the NASL goes through, I would love to have a team from the NASL assigned to an MLS club. Not only would that increase interest in the NASL and the MLS (I could care less right now, but I would follow a team to see how future RSL players are doing), but there would be more talent for clubs to select players from. Players coming from the draft could go to the NASL club and develop. I hope it becomes something like they have in baseball.

by three11stu on Dec 14, 2009 4:06 PM MST reply actions

Interesting....

Man Denz. You just lost me on your anti-union mini rant there. I have always held you in high esteem and enjoyed that you focused on the soccer portion and left the outside/political crap off of your old site. I guess you need to draw in the readers and all and speak your mind (after all… it is your site and what you say goes).

I’m not going to get into a point-counterpoint with you on the issue, but I think you are way off-base and at the very best extremely uninformed for saying such a thing and basically alienating some really good people who are not only fans of yours and soccer, but also members of unions and have felt the benefits from having a union. If you ever want to hear WHY unions are necessary even today feel free to call me. I’ll give you my number. I’ll even take you out to dinner sometime (I’ll pay) and lay out exactly how my union not only saved my job, but saved my life. Is their corruption? Sure. There is corruption EVERYWHERE in EVERY association. Religion, politics, retail, the insurance industry, real estate, mortgages, your local McDonalds etc. etc. Having humans involved will result in corruption. I am just really disappointed that you’d say something like that. It is a really popular sentiment in the state of Utah, and spewed relentlessly by the right-wing bloggers, but it is such an easy target because it’s BIG that nobody looks at the benefits and importance and focuses on the positives and necessity in certain situations.

Negotiating and collective bargaining are of the utmost importance when dealing with a large workforce, especially when it comes to benefits and job protection. But that ultimately can hurt the bottom line for the boss man, and looks more at the rights of the worker and treats them as a human being. I just can’t see why so many people see that as such a horrible thing. As a proud union member I take offense to what you’ve said and I am disappointed that I’ve even felt compelled to make this post. I’ve never been anything but positive in my dealings with you, and I think you are a great guy with a good heart, but on this one I just have to say it was a real downer for me and I was a bit offended. But as I said… it is your “home” and you are welcome to say whatever you’d like, and I’m sure what I’ve said will probably get deleted, but I had to let you know that I strongly disagree with your sentiments and I’ll leave you in peace to post what you want without any lectures from me. Best of luck with the site.

by Skellington on Dec 14, 2009 5:27 PM MST reply actions

Unions

I don’t consider the one line stating my opinion to be a “rant” simply offering the fact that in most cases I think unions have outlived their usefulness, I understand some industries still use and in some cases need unions, I get that but I have had encounters in my life with both the NEA, which railroaded a number of friends of mine into bad places in their lives, the union that represented my dad for several years while he worked as a machinist before he retired. That union put so many demands on the company he worked for that they simply closed their doors and moved to Mexico. I don’t want to turn this into a political or union rant, cause I know we could head that way and I understand that many union members are very loyal to the unions and I understand why. That is a topic for another day, as far as the CBA for the MLS, I have strong thoughts and opinions on both sides of the issue.

When I look at MLS and their relationship with their Union I am very worried that both sides are going to make mountains out of molehills and if they should be stupid enough on either side to think that this league can withstand a work stoppage of any type, then I fear that both sides will find that they have ability to destroy what progress has been made over the past decade. I do think there are some issues as I stated that both sides need to deal with, but I really do fear that the players union is going to try to bring the international players union in to try and force MLS to do somethings that the league simply can’t sustain, guaranteed contracts is one of them.

At the same time I have great fear that the league will think they can allow the developmental contracts to continue to exist, and I think establishing a bottom line of 40K a year is the right thing to do. Too many players have been forced to play for peanuts in order to play(even if it was the reserves), RSL saw a players who make $34,000 or less had to step in on several occasions. I think that a league that would let a player like Stuart Holden be valued at under $35,000 a year is simply doing a great injustice to the league and it’s ability to attract young players.

I think the issue is that in most leagues the teams actually negotiate the contracts, I believe that one of the biggest issues facing MLS is the structure. Until that issue is dealt with, everything else is really small potatoes. I would love to see MLS open their books, having teams do so is pointless as many of the costs and profits are not directly tied to the teams but rather tied to MLS and SUM. I do think there is a huge conflict of interest with Don Garber being in charge of both, My hope is that a very basic agreement can be reached between the two sides, one that allows for flexibility on both sides and does no damage to the league. I am working on my list of things I would love to see the league address and some of the issues I see with the current leadership, based on what I heard from the leadership of MLS in Seattle, I hope to have it done sometime this week.

by denz on Dec 14, 2009 8:06 PM MST up reply actions

some good thoughts

So I came across this article today and while most of the information is right on target I do question a couple of things and have written the author for clarification. Anyhow here is the link, give it a read and let me know what you think.

I haven’t found a word in the CBA about the salary cap, and I would argue that MLS may be sound as the result of SUM, but most teams are still operating at a loss on an annual basis.

by denz on Dec 14, 2009 9:42 PM MST reply actions