MLS and its players union on Wednesday agreed to a new five-year CBA, but there still are "plenty of questions about who 'won' at the bargaining table," according to Paul Tenorio of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. The new CBA gives the union a "form of player movement for the first time ever," but those rights "came with plenty of restrictions." The increase in the salary cap will be about 7% per year, "below what some thought would be fair for the players." Orlando City SC G and player rep Tally Hall said that he was "confident the new CBA was a crucial step forward for the league and the players." Hall: "The consensus of the guys is not that we were just doing this only for ourselves. What we were fighting for are also the kids that are watching us on TV, that are just starting to play soccer now or playing soccer in high school. ... We fought for the generation after we're all gone, and the framework is in place that will continue to benefit them" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 3/6). The GUARDIAN's Simon Evans writes the CBA marks a "victory of sorts" for the players, although they "didn't manage to blow [Commissioner] Don Garber's door down." The deal gives players a "very limited form a free agency," but it "bears little relation to the kind of free agency enjoyed by soccer players throughout the world." However, Hall said it “changes the dynamic of the league." Evans wrote the "genie is out of the bottle," and it is "hard to imagine that the union won’t, in 2020, be pushing for a further expansion of free agency, reducing the age limits and expanding the opportunity to negotiate a better deal" (GUARDIAN, 3/6).
NOT THAT MUCH OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT: In Minneapolis, Jon Marthaler wrote the players basically "won nothing." Their two achievements -- an "extremely limited form of free agency" and small rises in the minimum salary and salary cap -- "will soon be forgotten." MLS' "byzantine system of player allocation will (mostly) remain, along with the obscure, closed-door ways it sets its rules." While soccer's growth in the U.S. "continues to explode, the league's owners will continue to reap most of the benefits, while the vast majority of players limp along behind" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 3/5). ESPN's Keith Olbermann said it is "not the settlement that's the problem, it's what's in it." The players "blinked and accepted such amazing provisions as a huge 64 percent jump in minimum salary, all the way up to $60,000 a year." Olbermann: "They get free agency if they last eight years in the league, which apparently only 5 percent of them do. There is now a salary schedule. If you make less than $100,000, you might get as much as a 25 percent raise next contract via a free agency or whatever. But if you make $100,000-200,000, your next contract can't be more than 20 percent of your old one in terms of a raise. If you make more than $200,000, you can't get a raise bigger than 15 percent. Non-free free agency” ("Olbermann," ESPN2, 3/5). Timbers D and player rep Nat Borchers said that he was "pleased to see the players make some strides on the issue of free agency, but was disappointed that the league was not willing to offer greater increases" to the minimum salary, the salary cap and bonuses. Borchers: "Our priority was free agency, but it was disappointing for us that the league wasn't willing to move more on the economic issues." While Borchers said that he "would have liked to see some more concessions by the league ... he added that he was happy that the two sides were able to get a deal done" (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/6).
WALKING A HIGH WIRE: ESPN’s Craig Burley said if the players "really had the stomach for the fight" to get a better free-agency system than what was agreed to, they would have "taken it all the way to a strike and really pushed MLS.” ESPN's Alejandro Moreno said, “At one point or another, I would have agreed with you, in terms of some of the proposals that were put forth and made public that I thought were quite insulting.” However, Moreno cited a source inside the negotiating room as saying that the players “got as far as we possibly could, we left no meat on that bone, we maximized our potential in this CBA and we have left this league and these players in a better place.” Moreno noted there are players at home “that were against signing that deal,” and there are “some players that are not pleased with this." But they had to "make a good decision, because once you walk out, once you decide to strike, there’s no going back." Moreno: "At that point, you don’t know that it’s guaranteed that a better deal is going to be put on the table. It’s a risk that perhaps was not worth taking for the players.” ESPN's Steve Nicol said, "The fact they’ve actually got a little bit of free agency is great. They chipped away, they got a little bit, and now they’re just going to have to wait another five years to the next CBA and try and chip away. ... For the league to just buckle and give them free agency was never going to happen. It’s a great decision that they’ve made (not to strike)” ("ESPN FC," ESPNews, 3/5).
FUNNY MONEY: The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly writes MLS more than any North American league is "financially irrational," and what "keeps it afloat is that it is irrational on a reasonable scale." Kelly: "When you overspend, you lose five million, rather than 50." The league nonetheless "continues to expand," with Orlando City and NYC FC making their debuts this weekend. Franchise fees "are pushing" more than $100M, but "all that buys you is a logo." The league "controls each team," but "nobody seems to care." Kelly: "The Richie Riches of the world now think of sports teams the way they once thought of real estate -- there’s only so much of it and God isn’t making any more. Nobody’s ever going to get a basketball or baseball team on the cheap again." But soccer is "still affordable" (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/6).
MEANWHILE, ON THE PITCH...: SI's Grant Wahl writes MLS is starting its 20th season but "is still years (decades?) away from challenging the supremacy of its top European counterparts." However, MLS "is here to stay, and it's moving in the right direction." MLS "set a league record" with an average attendance of 19,151 in '14 and "figures to go over 20,000" in '15. But the league "still faces plenty of challenges." TV ratings "have been minuscule, though there's renewed optimism" with Fox, ESPN and Univision's TV deals that include "weekly doubleheaders in Sunday-night time slots" on ESPN2 and FS1. Meanwhile, as MLS "has lost some of its marquee players in their 30s" such as Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry, others stars "will join the league this year," including Orlando City MF Kaka and NYC FC MF Frank Lampard. But the "true measure of whether MLS becomes one of the world's top leagues will be its ability to develop world-class players from a young age and attract elite international stars in their prime" (SI, 3/9 issue).
