Major League Baseball is working on a policy that could involve experimenting with players wearing sensor technology on the field, something that could ultimately require collective bargaining with the MLB Players Association.
“We are preparing a new policy for next season that would allow us to approve applications for new technologies for on-field use,” MLB spokesman Michael Teevan said.
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The NFL CBA is the only one that addresses sensors, which can collect performance data.
Photos by: ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORP.
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Experimentation with sensor technology could begin in the minor leagues and is something MLB will be discussing with the MLBPA, Teevan said.
Leagues, teams and players are increasingly using sensors that monitor everything from sleep to heart rate to hydration, in an effort to improve performance and maintain the health of the players. But the technology is so new that the four major leagues are all over the map when it comes to negotiating the use of technology with the respective players unions.
MLBPA general counsel Dave Prouty said MLB players are not wearing sensor technology on the field, “not that we are aware of or have been informed by Major League Baseball about,” Prouty said. “But we do think this is a subject of collective bargaining.”
Requiring players to wear technology at practice or in games requires league bargaining with the unions because it is a working condition. As of now, only the NFL has something in its CBA that addresses the issue.
The 2011 NFL CBA allows players to wear microphones in their shoulder pads for enhancing television broadcasts and addresses players wearing sensors during practice and games.
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“We have … been working with the league to establish the appropriate protections.”
Sean Sansiveri
NFLPA
Photo by: KEVIN KOSKI / NFLPA
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“The NFL may require all NFL players to wear during games and practices equipment that contains sensors or other nonobtrusive tracking devices for purposes of collecting information regarding the performance of NFL games, including players’ performances and movements, as well as medical and other player safety-related data,” the CBA states.
It also says that sensors cannot be placed on players’ helmets without the NFL Players Association’s consent. The union’s consent must also be obtained “before using sensors for health or medical purposes,” according to the CBA.
The NFLPA last month filed a grievance against the NFL over clubs using sensors to monitor players’ sleep patterns. Sean Sansiveri, NFLPA vice president of business and legal affairs, said the sleep monitors have not been approved by the NFLPA, which has asked for a cease-and-desist order in its grievance.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said that every one of the players using the sleep sensors chose to use them voluntarily to improve their performance on the field. “We don’t understand the PA’s resistance to technology that their players have chosen to utilize,” Aiello said.
Sansiveri noted that the league and the union were in talks about how to use sensors, which are beneficial to players in many ways. “While we filed the grievance to reserve our rights, we have actually been working with the league to establish the appropriate protections,” he said. “So I anticipate we will continue to do that and we will have a conversation about the best way to use the technology in the sleep instances, [as well as] all the technology for health and safety.”
Meanwhile, other leagues and unions have had discussions about the issue.
In the NHL, there is nothing that specifically addresses player sensor technology, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly wrote in an email. “It’s not something that is far enough advanced in our discussions with the Union to really comment on at this point,” he wrote.
NHL Players’ Association general counsel Don Zavelo said, “The increasing use of wearable technology, and the large amount of data it generates, raise a number of interesting issues and concerns that we are currently reviewing.” The NHLPA was one of the unions that participated in a meeting of sports unions last month to discuss the issues.
In the NBA, teams can and are using wearable performance monitors in practices, but not in games. Teams in the D-League, however, have been using the monitors in games since the 2013-14 season, NBA spokesman Tim Frank said. There is nothing in the CBA that addresses the use of monitors.
NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts said that union is monitoring teams’ use of wearable technology and collecting feedback from players on both the potential benefits and drawbacks. “We’re paying keen attention to the data collected and how that data is being used by teams to evaluate players, and want to ensure best practices are in place as more teams use this technology,” she said.
