In 2021-2022, MLB underwent a labor stoppage due to a failure between the league and union to sign a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the 2022 season until mid-March of 2022. This failure led to a contentious debate between owners and players over economic, competitive balance, and gameplay issues. To evaluate how MLB has reached this point in labor relations and make predictions for the future, it is first important to look at the history of sports and collective bargaining and, more specifically, this history in baseball. Next, one should evaluate the history of the antitrust exemption and its impact on labor relations in MLB. It is then important to analyze the main tenets of the 2022 CBA and their implications.

The general firm/trade union bargaining literature is brought to bear on a specific North American sports league model, where talent supply is perfectly inelastic and profit-maximizing clubs receive local (gate) revenue plus an equal share of league broadcasting revenue. Club and player representatives negotiate a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) on the levels of local revenue sharing, salary cap, and salary floor. Results characterize the set of efficient bargains and the Nash bargaining solution and show how they are affected by increases in broadcasting market size, focusing on player salaries, competitive balance, the content of CBA documents, and comparisons with laissez-faire.

This article analyses the relationship between sport law and employment law - in particular, the legal recognition and involvement of collective bargaining in professional sport. Drawing on a number of specific examples - professional rugby, Formula One motor racing and mixed martial arts - this article attempts to identify existing and possible future challenges for the applicability of collective bargaining in this unusual legal context.

Prior to the 2011 National Football League (NFL) lockout, developments in professional football’s labor-management relations had prompted questions regarding how, when, and in what manner a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) might be drafted. Interest in this matter included, on the part of some observers, questions about how Congress responded to previous work stoppages in professional sports. In attempting to address this particular question, this report examines congressional responses to the 1982 and 1987 work stoppages in the NFL. With the conclusion of the 2011 NFL lockout in July, this work stoppage is also included. Additionally, this report examines the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, which is useful considering the extent of congressional activity surrounding this strike.

Dating back to the 1870s, in professional baseball's infancy, the relationship between the owners and players was quarrelsome.' Over the years, that relationship has not materially changed. Notably, more labor disputes have emerged in Major League Baseball (MLB) than in any other professional sport in the United States.! The tension between the players and owners is the product of almost a century of absolute owner control over the players through the use of the notorious reserve clause.

The development of a players’ union in the National Hockey League lagged behind the organization of unions in the other American major team-sport leagues by a decade.

We implement a propensity score matching technique to present the first evidence on the impact of professional sports lockouts on player productivity. In particular, we utilize a unique natural experiment from the 2012-2013 National Hockey League lockout, during which approximately 200 players decided to play overseas, while the rest stayed in North America. Our study contributes to the understanding of lockouts in professional sports and the general discussion of labor disputes and worker productivity.

The importance of competitive balance in sports leagues provides a negotiation tactic to leagues and owners when negotiating collective bargaining agreements. This paper provides evidence of loss aversion in National Basketball Association (NBA) game attendance across different collective bargaining agreements.

This study analyzes representation in collective bargaining in professional sports leagues and shows that the labor market is not completely competitive off-the-field. Because collective bargaining impacts future compensation and player unions are always represented by current players and often represented by more experienced players, there is a much higher incentive to advocate for policies that increase pay for more experienced players. Conversely, policies that maintain monopsony power for leagues with regards to inexperienced players, such as player drafts, have remained in sports leagues.

The article concerns the activities of trade unions of professional athletes in the United States. The main problem is the impact of the union on the standards of hiring players. This effect is visible in particular in the so-called collective bargaining aimed at achieving consensus in the form of a collective bargaining agreement. Collective agreements contain a number of provisions governing the employment of players. Of particular note are the so-called standard players contracts, which are the mandatory model of a contract between a player and a club. By presenting the outline of the problem of the decertification of the trade union, the role of union and collective agreements in shaping the organization of competition within a given sport discipline is presented.

Esports is a rising industry that has seen rapid growth in recent years. With an explosion in investment and revenue, competitive leagues have begun to form for most popular esports with lucrative winnings. However, not all players win big, and the existing systems in place for players are often inadequate to protect them from unfair labor practices. This Note examines the current competitive esports landscape and compares it to traditional sports leagues to show that esports players' unions are an attractive option for players to eliminate harsh working conditions and gain a seat at the bargaining table.