All the leagues have a CBA.
It is Labor Day and it is quiet on the sports front. The National Basketball Association has a new collective bargaining agreement with its players and once the NBA has a new TV deal, the league could expand to 32 teams. There is labor peace between the players and owners in Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Soccer. The United States Soccer Federation, the United States Women’s National Team Players Association and the United States National Soccer Team Players Association have deals through 2028. U.S. Soccer became the first federation in the world to equalize FIFA World Cup prize money awarded to the U.S. Women’s National Team and the U.S. Men’s National Team for participation in their respective World Cups.
The NFL and NHL extended their collective bargaining agreements with the players in 2020. The NFL-National Football League Players Association deal goes through the 2030-2031 season. The NHL owners deal with the players expires after the 2025-2026 season. The NFL-NFLPA pact reduced the number of preseason contests and increased the number of regular season games to 17. The agreement included an expanded playoff field, and increased roster size. The NHL agreement allowed the players to participate in the 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics, increased minimum salaries, maximum entry-level salaries, and the playoff bonus pool. The NHL pulled out of the 2022 Beijing Olympics over COVID-19 concerns. Major League Baseball locked out its players in the 2021-2022 off season and the talks dragged into the spring causing a loss of pre-season games. The owners and players agreed to increased minimum salaries, expanding the postseason, and setting up a bonus pool for young players who are not yet eligible for salary arbitration. Minor League baseball players have a CBA with MLB owners. The next sports flashpoint could be college athletes unionizing.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
