Background of Sports Lockout in the United States………………………………………………3
Lockouts and Strikes in the United States Sports Industry…..……………………………………4
Major League Baseball Strike (1971)……………………………………………………………..4
National Football League Strike (1982)…………………………………………………………..5
National Hockey League Lockout (1994)…………………………………………………………5
National Basketball Association Lockout (1998)…………………………………………………6
National Hockey League Lockout (2004)…………………………………………………………7
National Basketball Association Lockout (2011)…………………………………………………8
Effects of Strikes and Lockouts in United States Sport Industry…………………………………9
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….10
Work Cited………………………………………………………………………………………12
Introduction
For many years labor disputes were not present in the world of sports. Accordingly, many players played according to the terms of the owner of the team or manager and were free to leave the team if the conditions did not work. Empirical studies have indicated that players started to enjoy labor rights in the mid to late 19th century. The players started to realize that they had rights once they figured the potential of making money in sports. As a result, players started to demand inclusivity in labor negotiations. The demand for inclusivity brought about legal schisms between players and their manager or team managers. However, there were no major legal battles in the sports fraternity until 1969 (Conrad 13).
In 1969, Cult Flood refused to report to the Major League Baseball side Philadelphia Phillies after he was traded. Flood through Major League Baseball Players’ Union addressed his requests to the Supreme Court because he believed that was unfairly beheld by his former club St. Louis Cardinals. As a result, the Supreme Court ended the reverse clause allow the club to withhold players for life (Schiavone 15). Flood’s decision made players aware of their rights, and it opened a floodgate to labor disputes and lockouts in sports. Therefore, this paper will create an outline of sports lockouts and strikes in the United States and their effects in the professional sports league.
Background of Sports Lockout in the United States
The case of Cult Flood opened the door for major legal battles in the world of sports. The move by Cult led to a Supreme Court ruling that made players more aware of their rights. In this case, the players started to demand compensations they deserved. Furthermore, Cult’s decision to approach the Supreme Court made many people start joining unions and labor organizations. As a result, team owners and managers began to initiate collective bargaining agreements (CBA) that acted as frameworks for guiding players.
Various studies have indicated that CBAs were initiated to bring an end the schism between player and managers or team owners (Conrad 18). The logic behind this argument is that CBAs allowed room for negotiation in instances where there were legal disputes. However, the instances of unsuccessful negotiations led to a stoppage of work or a lockout thus halting sports operations. Sports lockouts are imposed on major professional leagues to allow players and team owners to agree. Lockouts are imposed by team owners when there is a disagreement that cannot be solved. Strikes, on the other hand, are initiated by players. Empirical studies have indicated that in the recent decades there have been many strikes and lockouts imposed on major professional leagues. Therefore, the aim of this study is it to create an overview of major strikes and lockouts in the United States sporting industry and their effects on the players and team owners (Schiavone 23-27).
Lockouts and Strikes in the United States Sports Industry
Major League Baseball Strike (1971). According to various labor and sports reports the Major league Baseball Strike of 1971 was the first industrial strike in United States sports. Baseball players went on strike to demand an increase in the pension fund payments to cater for the past three years of inflation. The industrial action had a huge impact on the professional league because it lasted for 13 days. As a result, teams lost 6-8 match days that were not compensated. In fact, some teams such as San Diego Padres and Houston Astros, lost more than eight games. Because of the strike players and team owners took a financial hit (Schiavone 29-33).
Furthermore, the strike allowed the Detroit Tigers to win the American League East because they played more games than the Boston Red Sox. However, the strike was beneficial to players because they received a $500,000 pension increase. In addition to that, the players gained the right to arbitrate their salaries. Empirical studies have indicated that the strike was crucial because it showed that players could initiate an industrial action. Primarily, most people believed that players could stay idle for days without paychecks. However, the strike proved otherwise with players standing on their ground, and it made the managers and team owners blink first (Conrad 33).
National Football League Strike (1982). The National Football League strike of 1982 is regarded as one of the most crucial strikes in the history of the league. The strike was initiated by players because they wanted a 55% increase in their compensation. According to sports records in the NFL the player went on strike just two games into the new season. The strike lasted for more than seven weeks, and it made teams lose games and match day revenues. The reports have indicated that the strike-shortened that NFL season to 9 games. In fact, as a result of the strike the NFL management constituted a onetime Super Bowl tournament that was made up of sixteen teams. The one-time tournament was won by the Redskins. Although the strike lasted for a long time, the players did not have their requests satisfied. The managers gave them a few financial concessions and the salary of the weeks they had not played. Team owners gave players $60m payout to return to work and a minimal boost in minimum salaries (Conrad 44).
National Hockey League Lockout (1994). The National Hockey League lockout was the second strike in the professional league. The first strike took place in 1992, but it ended quickly because of CBA that was signed by the players and the management. However, sports experts in the NHL have indicated that the CBA was not comprehensive to address all the compensation problems in the professional league. As a result, the team owners started to negotiate a new agreement with the players. However, the negotiations stalled and they caused a lockout in 1994. The deadlock in the negotiations was due to the fact that team owners and managers wanted the installation of a salary cap that would allow a revenue-sharing system to help the smaller franchises that had weaker markets (Conrad 47). In this case, the managers wanted to cap the high rising salaries of player to help franchises in weaker markets.
The strike lockout lasted for more than 100 days, and it shortened the season from 84 games to 48 games. As a result, the 1994/1995 season was the shortest in the last 53 years. Furthermore, the league was extended to May and future seasons were shortened to 82 games. In addition to that, according to various studies the lockout brought about resentment between players and the managers which were depicted by the signing of a CBA and that act was tolerated by none of the parties. The CBA was not a truce between the managers and the players (Schiavone 39).
National Basketball Association Lockout (1998). The National Basketball Association Lockout of 1998 was the third lockout in NBA history. However, this was the first time in NBA history whereby an industrial action had resulted in a stoppage of games during the season. Furthermore, the Lockout was famous because it came at a time when Michael Jordan was approaching the end of his career. The reason behind the lockout was that team owners wanted to install a salary cap into players’ salaries. On the other hand, the players wanted the team owners to raise earnings of players who had minimal salaries (Schiavone 43).
The deadlock between the two parties orchestrated criticism from the fans and the wider public. In this case, independent parties interpreted the schism between the owners and the players as a depiction of hunger or greed. As a result, the rating of the league dropped, and it made both the players and owners take a financial hit. In addition to that, the lockout was also characterized by divisions within the leadership of the NBA. However, after on Jan 6 1999, the leaders in the NBA agreed and decided to end the lockout (Schiavone 48). The owners also came to an agreement with the players and decided to adjust the players’ salaries to reach a maximum of $9M and $ 14M depending on the tenure or how long an individual had played in the NBA. The league’s minimum wage was raised to $287,500 which was a $15,000 increase. Furthermore, the owner promised the players that their salaries were going to equal 55% of the total NBA revenue. However, the dispute meant that only 50 games of the 82 season games were going to be played (Conrad 63).
National Hockey League Lockout (2004). The NHL lockout of 2004 according to various experts was a result of the CBA that was signed as a result of the 1994 lockout. The lockout was announced a few days before the beginning of 2004/2005 preseason. In this case, the CBA signed in 1994 had expired without any signs of an extension. Lack of an extension was a result of a deadlock over the things that led to the 1994 lockout. The deadlock was caused by the managers insisting on capping high rising salaries of players. The owners argued that the salaries of the players had tripled while the revenues of the league had stagnated. Furthermore, the owners stated that the league had incurred losses because of the rising salaries of the players. In fact, the owners insisted that they were spending 76% of their revenue of player salaries and the number was higher than in other major leagues in the United States (Conrad 51). The lockout was a major one because it led to the cancellation of an entire NHL season.
Primarily, in the middle of the season, both sides did not blink, and the deadlock made the managers cancel the entire season. The league lost thousands of fans because of the loss of the season. However, in July 2005 the two sides came to an agreement that led to the end of one of the deadliest lockouts in the United States sports industry. The agreement brought about financial changes in the league that were highlighted in the salary cap of $39 million. The $39 million cap was supposed to be adjusted to guarantee the players 54% of the total NHL revenue. In this case, top ten revenue producing teams were supposed to contribute part of their to the bottom ten revenue producing team.
National Basketball Association Lockout (2011). The National Basketball Association lockout of 2011 was the fourth work stoppage in the professional league. The lockout was because of the expiry of the CBA that was agreed after 2004 lockout. The negotiation to initiate a new CBA had stalled, and it made the team owners announce an industrial lockout that began on July 1, 2011. As a result, teams could not sign or extend players contracts. Players, on the other hand, were not allowed to use the association facilities (Conrad 71). The reason behind the stalemate between the players and the union was that huge players wanted guaranteed payouts even if they underperformed. The owners, on the other hand, wanted an increased revenue sharing, especially for the smaller players.
In addition to that, the owners wanted to introduce a new clause that would allow them to drop players if they did not perform. The owner argued that they were incurring losses as a result of the players rising salaries. Many experts in the NBA have argued that the stalemate was because both parties wanted more money (Conrad 81). The need for money was the primary reason that prolonged the lockout. In this case, the lockout lasted for 161 days, and it made many people doubt if there will be an NBA season in 2011. Further, the lockout reduced 2011/2012 regular season from 82-66 games. The new CBA allowed 50-50 division of basketball revenue between the owners and the players (Conrad 99).
Effects of Strikes and Lockouts in United States Sport Industry
In every industry, employees are very sensitive to compensations and adjustments in payments. If the workers do not agree on a particular adjustment, it might lead to a stoppage of work. Therefore, many experts have been concerned with the effects of labor actions and disputes in both the employee and the employer (Walsh 11). Thus, empirical studies have indicated that sports lockouts have enormous effects on productivity of the players, managers, team owners and the economy at large. One of the effects of the sports lockouts is that it has many players to be aware of their sporting and labor rights. In this case, reports have indicated that in the recent there has been an increase of representation of players by Unions because most of them have become aware of their rights (Walsh 12).
Principally, various experts have indicated that strengthening of labor Unions is one of the major impacts of the work stoppages in the United States sports industry. Ideally, most of these sports unions are one of the strongest in the country. For example, Major League Baseball Association is one of the strongest labor unions in the United States. Financial experts have indicated that sports unions are more successful than other industrial unions because players invest heavily in the unions (Walsh 13-17). The investments are brought about by the need to maximize career earning in sports. Furthermore, the players have invested and in the unions to make them one of the most formidable negotiating tools. The players have used these unions to demand a better a pay and other forms of compensation. Primarily, labor stoppages occur when there is too much money flowing into a particular profession league. Therefore, a work stoppage allows the conflicting parties to demand an increase in revenue (Walsh 23). As a result, both the players and the team owners gain considerable amounts of after stoppages in the industry.
Moreover, sports have indicated that work stoppages and lockouts have allowed stakeholders of different leagues to come together. In other words, the lockouts have enabled the players through their unions to meet the team owners and negotiate different things that affect their respective sports. Experts have insisted that sports lockouts have enabled players and the owners to read from the same page. As a result, the meetings between the players and the unions have resulted in innovation in the professional leagues through collective bargaining.
In addition to that, lockouts have had adverse effects on the financial stability of professional leagues in the United States. The lockouts have led to some lawsuits that have changed the payment structure of the leagues. Players Unions use lawsuits to oppose salary caps of players. This phenomenon has hurt payment structures of the teams (Walsh 25). For instance, teams as a result of scrapping salary caps are expected to cater for the rising payments of players even when the revenues of the league have stalled. Financial experts have indicated that this phenomenon creates tension between players and the team owners plus it has challenged financial and performance stability of professional leagues in the United States (Walsh 42).
Additionally, work stoppages have also affected players’ performances and careers negatively. Primarily, in sports like basketball players do not stay in their prime for many years. National Basketball Association has an average career length of 4.8 seasons (Walsh 49). In most cases, many players do not reach their fifth season while the longest-serving players do not reach the eighth season. Therefore, NBA players need to make the most out of their prime years to have a remarkable career. The work stoppages, in this case, have affected careers of basketball players. In fact, the stoppages have shortened the careers even further (Walsh 53).
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper has shown that in the recent past there has been an increase of industrial actions in the sporting world. These industrial actions have led to a total stoppage of work major leagues in the United States. The industrial actions are a result of increased awareness of rights and representation by labor unions. In this case, layers have started to enjoy labor rights that have enabled them to negotiate better payments and compensations. There have been major lockouts that have paralyzed many sports in the United States which include Major League Baseball Strike (1971), National Football League Strike (1982) and the National Basketball Association Lockout (2011). These lockouts have had both positive and negative effects in the sporting fraternity. For instance, the lockouts have resulted in the strengthening of sports unions that have negotiated better compensations of players. On the other hand, the lockouts and strikes have shortened careers of players especially for those in NBA.
Work Cited
Conrad, Mark. The Business of Sports: A Primer for Journalists. Routledge, 2011.
Schiavone, Michael. Sports and Labor in the United States. State University Of New York Press, 2016.
Walsh, Conor A. Lockouts and Work Stoppages in Professional Sports: Select Analyses. Novinka, 2013.
