The Major League Soccer labor situation look ready to get much worse before it gets better.
The Washington Post is reporting that the MLS players union has voted resoundingly in favor of a strike if a new Collective Bargaining Agreement isn't agreed to before the start of the season, with the vote put at more than 350 in favor of a strike and just two against a strike.
Neither the player's union or MLS have commented on the report yet, but the vote is in line with what players have been saying for some time. It seems pretty inevitable that the union will strike right before the start of the season if the league does not budge in negotiations. Now the question is whether MLS will seriously consider some concessions. If not, we could be headed for a strike, which would be devastating for a league heading into a very important season.
What do you think of this news? Think MLS will start to budge? Still don't believe the player's will strike?
Share your thoughts below.
The league’s “communistic” policy?
Do you eat poison mushrooms?
It’s amazing how many communists are here!
Look at me! I like to say words like “corporate”, “greed” and “capitalism” every other word when I speak!
Why don’t you go to a country where they have socialism or communism if you like it so much?
(SBI-Aristotle, settle down. You’ve devolved into someone who isn’t bringing a lot to the conversation relating to soccer. Save all your union-bashing “you’re a commie” talk for somewhere else. You’ve made your point 20 times over already.)
You are an absolute dope. If by the league remaining viable, you mean a joke, then that’s one way to go.
The other would be to recognize that as the league grows, the structure has to change. The player’s aren’t asking for the league to remain nonviable. They’re not demanding unfettered free agency, they’re just asking for the right, as players the world over have, to deal with clubs not the league and to have the right to find an alternate situation in MLS if they are cut loose by a team. If an individual prices himself out of the market in a salary cap league, then so be it. Players are asking for a more realisitic cap number so that clubs can both pay a better wage throughout the roster and employ more players, to be able to put a better product on the field. That is what will make the league less a joke and much more viable. Dink.
People working at McD’s aren’t making 20K a year, working for 9 mths at three hours a day.
Ah, yes. The evil capitalists are keeping us down and preventing our poor soccer players from making more than $90,000/yr. to play a game. That’s much, much worse than basic rights and freedoms being violated by a totalitarian, overreaching government that ignored protections for citizens that had been legalized for 500 years.
Speaking of really losing our way…
Dream on! This is potentially the end of MLS and the end of U.S. soccer as anything meaningful. Everyone loves to mock MLS but it is vitally important to soccer in this country. Rest assured there will be no more “evil” rich guys willing to lose money to start another league.
Well now that that’s clear, I guess what you think doesn’t matter then does it?
If a player is released it means just that they are released. It’s only players who where made offers that don’t like them that are stuck until a trade can be made, But while your harping NFL love, if a player was set to be unrestrictive and is now a restrictive free agent then now his team only has to match the salary of the other team and he can’t sign somewhere else, or they can just franchise someone and he can’t move at all without major compensation. and Majority of MLS owners own NFL teams, maybe you should re think your strategy.
I agree about rights of a player out of contract should be free to go anywhere they want, within MLS, without the team who let them go getting compensated, geez thats common sense! MLS, give up that!!!
Sorry players, guaranteed contracts out of the question!! If you’re under performing, than you don’t deserve to get payed, period!!
If you get injured, make SURE you have insurance! Players Union, do NOT expect guaranteed contracts!
Both sides, end this shyte now!! This is the WRONG time for a threat of not playing during this world cup year.
“players should wait til the next CBA”
Can’t see McBride, Beckham, Keller, and even Donovan and other vets being around 4 years from now.
“who is gonna join a league like that?”
Beckham, Blanco, Schelloto, Ljundberg, Donovan, McBride, Keller, De Guzman…
Then you add in the young guns trying to prove themselves and the vets who spend their whole career here; they have been and will continue to join as long as the league is in existence.
An existence for which I now fear.
Please these players don’t care about that case. What these players care about is this grand delusion that after a certain amount of time in this league if you don’t have offers anywhere else you can still play here and your contract will be guaranteed, or even better, if you can’t go to europe, which is every players dream (so we hear) then you can now shop yourself in the league and you can try to pick a team that will eventually win your services by paying you more. None of what the players are going for have anything to do with development of the league, but everything to do for the older guys who feel they are entitled to a bit more. Thats all this is about, most of the young guys won’t be in the league long enough to benefit from any of this. This move is only about the guys the majority of us don’t think are good enough anyways.
But they would be crossing a picket line in a FIFA sanctioned league. I doubt they would ever work again if the players came back.
Scabs would set this league back even further.
that makes no sense. The current players, who have limited careers, no retirement benefits, should, wait for some undefinable time when the league makes “lots of mulah” to ask NOT for a raise but for rights. How does that help the current players to wait. And when will the pressure be put on owners to up their game? Why can’t SJ get a designated player or Chivas? Why can’t Real Salt lake? Can’t SJ market themselves better the the shite they’ve done under both ownership groups? Can’t they sell more merchandise? Can’t they hire quality coaching? But waiting doesn’t help players now. And i can’t see any labor group agreeing to do that
NFL players also play in a league that brings in over 100x the revenue MLS does so yeah they will get paid a lot more.
Second, you are actually kinda wrong about the teams having no rights. If an NFL team waives someone, another team has to compensate them if they make it to their team for more than I believe 3 games. That’s why a lotta waiver wire pick ups spend the year on the practice squad.
So while it’s not as Draconian as the MLS way, there are still compensation structures in place. (the same thing happens in baseball) I’m not sure why MLS doesn’t just model itself after those leagues, I think the players would accept that as it wouldn’t affect foreign transfers in a negative way. They would continue as they do now.
Ives or anyone who watches espn or the news,
is bad press better than no press? and is this issue getting media attention?
while the salary figures are troubling, i believe the issue on hand are player’s rights and contract legalities.
I sure the players would love a higher salary cap they know they can only push that so far with the level of revenue the mls generates. what they want is free agency, garenteed contracts and free movement etc. and this is where economics and such is over my head and I just hope a comprise is worked out.
All this should mean is that Donovan should stay at Everton, and any player still with US team aspirations in MLS go down a level in US to the USL/NASL league on loan or something.
The players really don’t have much leverage at all actually.
Why do you think the owners made all of their stadiums multi-use stadiums? MOST of them make more money on concert and other non-soccer events already so if they players strike, Big F Deal. They’ll cram some more Eric Clapton/Jeff Beck shows into Toyota Park and smile all the way to the bank.
If the owners did decide they wanted to still have a season, there are these things union members like to call “scabs” (workers who aren’t in the union willing to cross the picket line) that the owners will gladly use (just like the NFL owners did which forced the players back to work with less than they hoped for mighty quick).
I think the free agency system needs to be revamped. If they INSIST on retaining compensation for losing out of contract players then at least do an NFL style system which is the most restrictive where you can tag players as ‘franchise’ or ‘transition’ players. The way it is now where a player can run out a contract and yet still not have freedom to move elsewhere in the league is ludicrous.
The league needs to budge on that and the players have to accept that not much else is going to be accomplished this time around. We are in a recession and they should be happy they have jobs. Once the TV and gate revenues move up, then they can start talking about other issues.
Door won’t hit me cause i was never in the MLS room. If i were a fan i’d be a fan of teams not of a league. i don’t go to nfl games rooting for nfl. And the league as constructed sucks so if it dies it will be the owners fault and i won’t be shedding tears. These owners in countless places like KC, San Jose, LA, New York, Columbus, Miami, etc have showed they can’t run a team. They have salary caps. It’s not going to increase spending to give players free agency and movement. if they blow it it’s the dumb owners fault.
I believe the wnba has fans, so obviously someone cares.
Amazing how many reactionaries are out here. Corporate boss Garber deserves his millions sitting on his ass, but the kid making $18k playing a professional sport is greedy. I guess the Reagan Revolution keeps chugging along. Because of the American worker’s ignorance and belief that “they will be the next Bill Gates or Oprah”; they dig their own graves for their corporate masters. Doesnt really matter as we will all soon be working in our corporate plantations or serving time in the poor house because you cant pay your mortgage. Wake up – capitalism has failed completely!
not to difficult considering none of those guys have to have an apartment with roomates.
How does free agency make the league better? The players who are good enough take themselves to europe. And they don’t even want free agency for everyone just guys that have been in the league for 5+ seasons, so tell me how does that magically make this a better league? All your doing is creating teams like birmingham or hull, where you pay crap players more because they are willing to play for your team, because you offer them more then the last guy ie Jimmy Bullard.
This CBA certainly isn’t stopping the MLS propaganda machine from continuing to releases all sorts of “positive player and team news”. The bottom line is that the MLS isn’t Major, and neither are the Players and the Owners are much worse. The biggest losers’ are the fans – the American soccer fan has grown up some by now. We know what good soccer is all about and the MLS just isn’t there yet. Having said that, a strike may just be that jolt we’ve all been waiting for.
Also NFL players don’t need roomates and have don’t have their rights retained by if they get released. Not to mention it’s not single entity and their owners actually don’t suck at business and marketing.
Say, for example, an employee working for a company with many facilities around the country wishes to take another job within that company but at a different geographical location. Is it common for negotiations between management of the two facilities for the right to employ the individual? Even when the employee’s contract is up and they elect to take an available position at the different facility? Why would there be any negotiations if the emloyee still would still be working within the same company?
I can’t help but ask myself this when trying to comprehend the “single entity” argument against free transfers. I can’t see how it would control costs or even begin to affect them with a hard Salary Cap already in place.
If you have more guaranteed contracts, you have to pay more money, if you allow for more freedoms, then you have to pay more, money. It is about the money, it always has been, it’s just not about the salary cap.
What if they went on strike and no one knew? I live in Chicago Tribune country which alternates between ignoring and patronizing the game. You think there has been any mention of this disagreement outside of the type next to the small print page? NO. If MLB even thought about thinking about a strike, there would be such gnashing of teeth that you’d think Mayor Daley got a sex change and changed the name of the city to East San Francisco. Believe me, the sports establishment will ignore this. Don’t know if that’s good or bad but it’s not like it’s really perceived to be changing someone’s life.
I don’t think a work stoppage will take place because it benefits nobody. Everybody loses some paydays and any small crowds afterward are not attributed to fan anger, but to the fact that soccer is irrelevant in this country. Thus justifying ignoring the game further.
It’s much closer to 20%
“not interesting” – you’re on a forum for the MLS…seems like you’re interested
Normal business rules do not apply to sports
The TV package numbers are actually the most important and go a long way to explaining the discrepancies among the leagues.
And for the billionth time, Beckham is not being paid $250 million by MLS. Not even close.
I don’t want the MLS to strike. I do want to see Landon playing for Everton.
They can both happen and it can work out well for each party.
Another thought: the strike, if it comes to that, would give them huge press. And if it doesn’t linger too long, could actually give the league a bump, as the sportsworld transitions to WC. They will get much free press. Yes, not positive, but few fans that I know of are really that up in arms about player strikes, other than missing some, or all, of the season. We have seen strikes in several leagues, and they are still around. And it doesn’t have the flavor of greed that the MLB strike had.
I hope they don’t strike. I hope the players’ lot improves. I also wish for the owners some seasons of profitability . . . which they have not had.
I have no idea what the Union and the Owners are fighting over, but if they have a work stoppage that is bad for American Soccer. As much as people like to bash the MLS this league is directly responsible for the uptick in not only quality but the quantity of players the USA has.
This is a sad day for American Soccer fans.
Pathetic. It is the club’s responsibility to generate revenue and attention for their team. Fans need to support their club whether they suck or not.
Clubs and supporters to blaim-
New York. Way to pack it in last year in hopes that a new stadium will help. 12,000 fans a game? What a joke.
Columbus. One year removed from a CHAMPIONSHIP and you average 14,000. Time to relocate to St Louis or Montreal.
Dallas. Huge market and a local rivalry, but nothing to show for it. 9,000 fans a game. Time for new ownership.
New England. 12,000 a game. I don’t get it, maybe you are tired of watching your team choke in the playoffs.
Well done to fans and organizations to 15,000 or above.
The rest of you are ruining the league. Either get your city behind your club or let them go somewhere that they will be appreciated.
Garber’s salary really seems irrelevant. He has a massive Administrative and Leadership role, and it doesn’t seem like it is out of line to attract someone with talent and know how to accept the position that he has.
Even in soccer player salaries, you see that only the big bucks attract big players that we all want. If we offered 5oK to Beckham, we’d never have seen him.
I agree our players are paid far to little-not compared to other athletes (which is certainly the case) but for basic living wages in some very expensive markets.
However the league is still gaining traction and payroll adds up to a hefty sum. MLS will need to keep increasing to attract (and keep) players, but they have to balance that with financial ability and profitability. I don’t blame the players for demanding more. But what Garber makes has nothing to do with it. The league NEEDS to pay him that much.
And this CBA row is showing us that players will need more, too. The question is how much and how soon.
I hope the MLS succeeds, but the players are delusional and really don’t have much leverage. The owners aren’t raking in revenue from MLS games (they are making more sure, but it’s not a windfall). All of them do something else so they won’t suffer–though obviously employees of the clubs will.
With so much European soccer on TV now and then the WC really only hard core fans are going to miss them–after the WC, well football starts back and then the European leagues as well so from a TV standpoint they are cooked.
That leaves the fans in the stands—owners can easily say we’re standing up for the fans b/c we don’t want to raise ticket prices.
I realize this is a major oversimplification, but the casual fans are the ones MLS needs to grow and suceed with the way the players want things. There’s just no chance of that with a strike.
yeah, Robert Kraft owns the Patriots and the Revolution. Wonder if he feels his soccer players should earn more.
Why would a foreign player, who just signed a contract and arrived in this country to begin training, immediately want to strike? Or would such a player not be allowed to vote?
Thank you to the owners who invested their own money and brought soccer to my city as well as many others. Boo to the players who have done nothing but but cause problems. Go to the NASL if you are so unhappy.
Pretty nervy considering 60% of these guys aren’t good enough to play elsewhere.
Hope they finished college.
Lord knows what Mike Magee will do for a living.
Very nice…
I think you’ve posted this before though, but reminders are always good. I really think it is hypocritical of MLS. A while ago, the owner of the Revolution said he would only buy foreign club if they got a salary cap. I believe he also owns a football team. Using you’re info, I wonder what he’d pay his players abroad, 30K or 1.25Mil.
Actually the players have a ton of leverage… if the league goes bust, the players have to look for other work, beit in soccer or a career they majored in in college. The owners stand to loose a whole lot more… they’re already in the red financially, plus they’ve built a lot of stadiums that aren’t paid for yet. No league and they’re going to have really hard times paying their loans off.
One item that nobody ever cares to bring up is that the owners DO make money off of soccer in this country since they wholey control SUM (Soccer United Marketing, or whatever the hell it’s called). THis is the entity that was set up to stage games w/ foreign teams (for huge gate receipts AND they control the TV rights to major tournaments that they bid on and won, the WC for one).
First off, it not only annoying, but arrogant to include “end of story.” or “period.”. I have seen it become more prominent on the net lately, but it obviously isn’t the end of the story. It’s just you sticking your chest out as if intimidation will win over logic.
Now, as for your logic… You made a great point when you stated you can’t fathom signing up with the clause that you detailed. Nobody tricked them; they signed up of their own free will.
The second erroneous point you made was to state they would be unemployed in their chosen profession. Not true, they are just not able to move freely within their own company; the single entity of MLS. They can go to another country as you stated, or play for one of the lesser known domestic leagues, or be a coach, work for an academy, be a trainer, etc…
if i am forced to reschedule trips because of this stupidity, somebody is going to get an earful
Solidly behind the players on this one…. they get free agency, they’ll concede every other point on the table. WIthout free agency, I have no respect for the league and will spend my money somewhere else. If the players strike, I’ll support them 100%.
buck garber! ESPECIALLY if a strike goes down! not great news at all!
Good about time. Seriously how many months of negotiations do you really need? Line is drawn now it is time to get down to business.