The marketing efforts of pro sports players' unions
were profiled by Richard Alm of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS, who
wrote that the unions "in most sports are adept at marketing
themselves." For Players Inc, the wholly owned subsidiary
of the NFLPA, all merchandise sales help "to generate
millions of dollars in revenue that will sustain" the union
and its activities. Alm wrote, "That entrepreneurial drive
... blurs the line between business and labor." The MLBPA
"works with about" 120 companies on marketing endeavors,
including Eastman Kodak and Hasbro, and the NHLPA "reports
that it has 84 deals with such companies as" IBM, Nortel,
DaimlerChrysler and Canadian subsidiaries of Quaker Oats and
McDonald's. But the NBPA "took a different tack," as it
"signed its marketing rights and logo over to the NBA" in
'95 and is receiving $29M from the deal this year.
$$ GOES WHERE? Players Inc President Doug Allen said
that after paying expenses of $10M a year, "another" $10M
goes to the union, "allowing for rebate of players' dues
after five years," while the "rest of the money goes back to
the players." Bonuses are "paid on the basis of
participation" in Players Inc promos. Some of the MLBPA's
"group-licensing money goes to charity" and some goes to
expenses, but the players "get most of it," via "strictly
egalitarian" distribution. The NHLPA Exec Board decides the
distribution and allocated $15M for a "grass-roots" program
last fall. But Alm concluded that the "purpose" for Players
Inc "lies in strengthening" the union's $100M in "financial
reserves in case of trouble." Allen: "It gives us the
resources to have an equal relationship with management at
the bargaining table" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/18).
