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MLS avoids a strike, agrees to deal with players union
By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 21, 2010; D01
Major League Soccer and its players' union reached a deal on a five-year collective bargaining agreement Saturday, averting a strike less than a week before the league was scheduled to begin its 15th season.
The sides emerged from two days of round-the-clock negotiations at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington to announce a pact that boosts salaries, provides guaranteed contracts to a majority of players and allows for greater freedom to move between clubs in the league without the implementation of traditional free agency.
Although the agreement must still be ratified by MLS's board of governors and the players, it ends the threat of a work stoppage that might have been severely damaging. Despite numerous positive developments, including expansion to 18 teams by next year and the opening of two new stadiums this season, MLS has only two profitable clubs and continues to operate in the shadows of other U.S. pro sports leagues.
The previous CBA expired Jan. 31 and was extended twice before running out late last month. Without a new agreement, the players said they would not start the season on schedule. The first match is Thursday in Seattle with the Sounders hosting the expansion Philadelphia Union. D.C. United will make its debut next Saturday at Kansas City.
"Going forward, we are going to have a real relationship with the league as opposed to being combative at times," said Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, the 2009 league MVP, who serves on the union's executive board. "This is not a one-day celebration; this is the start of many good things to come for many years for our players and our league."
The primary issue was free agency. Under the previous deal, teams retained league rights to a player who was no longer under contract and could demand compensation if another club had interest in him. In other American sports, as well as in soccer leagues around the world, players out of contract have, with some restrictions, the right to freely negotiate with other teams.
Under the new system, a postseason re-entry draft will be utilized for players whose contracts expire or have options declined, and those who have several years of service in the league. Details were not immediately disclosed.
"We made progress on this area," said Bob Foose, the union's executive director. "Not necessarily as much as we would have chosen, but that is collective bargaining. There is real progress on correcting certain situations that were vitally important to our players involving movement within the league. There are changes there, significant changes."
MLS, which oversees all player contracts, has stood firm in its opposition to free agency, citing its creation on "the principle that our owners would not be bidding against each other for player services," Commissioner Don Garber said.
He added, however, that the new deal "addresses, to a large extent but not to the total extent, the players' wishes and desires. At the same time, it provides the league with something that is crucial to us and will remain crucial to us. In our view, there is no actual free agency."
Players out of contract will continue to be free to negotiate with foreign clubs.
"These negotiations were always about player rights," Foose said. "While, of course, the players did want to see reasonable increase in compensation, the rights were our central theme all along. We think we have made some real improvements in players' ability to move throughout the league."
By Steven Goff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 21, 2010; D01
Major League Soccer and its players' union reached a deal on a five-year collective bargaining agreement Saturday, averting a strike less than a week before the league was scheduled to begin its 15th season.
The sides emerged from two days of round-the-clock negotiations at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington to announce a pact that boosts salaries, provides guaranteed contracts to a majority of players and allows for greater freedom to move between clubs in the league without the implementation of traditional free agency.
Although the agreement must still be ratified by MLS's board of governors and the players, it ends the threat of a work stoppage that might have been severely damaging. Despite numerous positive developments, including expansion to 18 teams by next year and the opening of two new stadiums this season, MLS has only two profitable clubs and continues to operate in the shadows of other U.S. pro sports leagues.
The previous CBA expired Jan. 31 and was extended twice before running out late last month. Without a new agreement, the players said they would not start the season on schedule. The first match is Thursday in Seattle with the Sounders hosting the expansion Philadelphia Union. D.C. United will make its debut next Saturday at Kansas City.
"Going forward, we are going to have a real relationship with the league as opposed to being combative at times," said Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, the 2009 league MVP, who serves on the union's executive board. "This is not a one-day celebration; this is the start of many good things to come for many years for our players and our league."
The primary issue was free agency. Under the previous deal, teams retained league rights to a player who was no longer under contract and could demand compensation if another club had interest in him. In other American sports, as well as in soccer leagues around the world, players out of contract have, with some restrictions, the right to freely negotiate with other teams.
Under the new system, a postseason re-entry draft will be utilized for players whose contracts expire or have options declined, and those who have several years of service in the league. Details were not immediately disclosed.
"We made progress on this area," said Bob Foose, the union's executive director. "Not necessarily as much as we would have chosen, but that is collective bargaining. There is real progress on correcting certain situations that were vitally important to our players involving movement within the league. There are changes there, significant changes."
MLS, which oversees all player contracts, has stood firm in its opposition to free agency, citing its creation on "the principle that our owners would not be bidding against each other for player services," Commissioner Don Garber said.
He added, however, that the new deal "addresses, to a large extent but not to the total extent, the players' wishes and desires. At the same time, it provides the league with something that is crucial to us and will remain crucial to us. In our view, there is no actual free agency."
Players out of contract will continue to be free to negotiate with foreign clubs.
"These negotiations were always about player rights," Foose said. "While, of course, the players did want to see reasonable increase in compensation, the rights were our central theme all along. We think we have made some real improvements in players' ability to move throughout the league."