Thursday is supposed to be the deadline for negotiations between MLS and its club’s owners and the MLSPA, which represents the league’s players, for a new collective bargaining agreement.
Here is a primer on what’s going on:
Q: Is this a real deadline?
A: It depends upon which side you ask. This deadline was put out by the MLS Commissioner Don Garber in a conference call with media Jan. 12. He said it is a result of the owners invoking the force majeure clause in the CBA on Dec. 29. With that invocation there is a 30-day window for negotiations. The league said this 30-day window was agreed to between the two sides in the summer. MLPSA Executive Director Bob Foose said that Jan. 13 that the deadline is made up.
Q: Why did MLS invoke the force majeure?
A: The league completed the 2020 season with losses of approximately $1 billion because of the impact of COVID-19, according to Garber. The force majeure clause was done after the season. Garber has alluded to the league again not being able to have supporters in the stands for most of the 2021 season as a reason. MLS clubs more heavily rely on revenues from attendance than other professional sports leagues.
Foose said the clause was invoked out of economic opportunism, rather than necessity. Some reporters who cover MLS have posited that the owners are trying to get back some concessions made during the previous CBA that was negotiated last year.
Q: Wait, they just agreed to a CBA last year?
A: Yes. Twice, actually. The first agreement was struck at the start of training camps last year. It included generous concessions for the players, such as more charter flights, small salary increases, etc.
Q: What happened, then?
A: COVID. The CBA had yet to be ratified when the season was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The owners threatened to lock out the players if they didn’t ratify a CBA with several alterations before the season restarted with the tournament in Orlando in the summer. The players made several concessions in that CBA, including salary cuts for the season as part of an estimated $100 million in concessions, according to ESPN. The force majeure clause also was agreed to. The league was forced to lay off more than 20 percent of its employees. Front-office members of the league and of clubs also took pay cuts.
Q: What are the owners offering in the new CBA?
A: No salary cuts this season in exchange for extending the CBA by two years through the 2027 season. The CBA agreed to in January went through the 2024 season.
Q: And the players don’t want that because ...
A: Doing so would result in no raises for two years because they agreed to cuts last season, and salary increases that were supposed to go into effect this season would go into effect next season, according to the deal agreed to during the summer.
There also could be lost revenues in TV deals that are set to expire after 2025.
The MLSPA countered on Thursday asking for the CBA to extend through 2026 season as well as “modest non-economic changes for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, changes that would benefit players by reducing the age for free agency eligibility by one year and decreasing some of the restrictions on free agent earnings.”
Q: What happens if they don’t reach an agreement?
A: ESPN reported Wednesday that the league sent a memo to clubs telling them to prepare for a lockout. It would be the first work stoppage in league history. The league is hoping to receive a counter from the MLSPA by the midnight deadline.
From there, the proposal would be reviewed by the league’s labor committee, which includes club owners.
From there, there are a number of scenarios, including but not limited to, agreeing to terms, countering or a lockout.
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