MLS Commissioner Don Garber and the MLSPU have "enlisted the help of mediators in CBA discussions," according to Jeff Carlisle of ESPN FC. MLS owners and the union have "employed the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to help reach an agreement," the "second time that the FMCS has been involved in negotiations" between the two parties. FMCS mediator George Cohen in '10 "was brought in, and his presence was widely hailed as being critical to the two sides reaching an agreement." The two sides "have been involved in negotiations since the end of last year, with player compensation and free agency the primary sticking points" (ESPNFC.com, 2/12). In Denver, Daniel Boniface notes the sides "remain far apart on the issues of free agency and player compensation." Rapids MF Sam Cronin on Wednesday said, "We've communicated to the league that we're not willing to play without some form of free agency." He added of free agency, "We think that'd be a really healthy thing for the league and improve the professionalism throughout the league. If you see other sports, it's always had a positive impact on the leagues there, so we think that'd be no different in Major League Soccer" (DENVER POST, 2/13).
STRIKE ONE: GRANTLAND's Noah Davis wrote while the two sides "have resumed talks, key players are openly talking about a strike, a tactic that’s at once an effort to exert pressure on the owners and also ensure the union rank and file that all the players are serious and united." During the last round of negotiations in '10, the players "voted 383-2 to authorize a work stoppage if they didn’t come to an agreement two days before the season was set to begin." In the end, the sides "found enough common ground to sign a deal, but it merely pushed the two biggest issues, free agency and player compensation, down the road." The average salary is more than $226,000, and yet the median "is just $91,827." In '14, six players made 28.5% of the money "due to the designated player structure," and that "won't stop happening ... unless there are structural changes." Davis: "Hence the battle over free agency, and the perception that MLS could be headed for a strike since neither side seems willing to give." But the players "have a few advantages in their favor." Two expansion teams, NYC FC and Orlando City SC, paid a combined $170M "to join the league, and their ownership groups won’t want to start their franchises with a work stoppage." Fox Soccer and ESPN "won’t either." Public sentiment "falls on the side of the players, too." It is "hard for a league" that is getting Toronto FC MF Michael Bradley & Co. to "come back by (over)paying them millions to cry poor, no matter how many times" Garber says MLS loses $100M a year (GRANTLAND.com, 2/11).
