Would a long work stoppage hurt MLS?
2010-02-17 22:00:00
Duane says no, Jason Davis says yes. This on the back of Steve Goff's update on the collective bargaining negotiations:We're not privy to the conversations .....
and neither the league nor the players' union has been willing to disclose specifics, or for that matter, generalities. (Sorry, unwashed masses, we'll toss you some crumbs when we so choose.) For all we know, 95 percent of the issues have been resolved.
Which means that it's almost pointless to speculate on the state of negotiations like some people have. Goff also states that he's heard free agency is the sticking point and he quotes a source saying the players are ready to strike if necessary, which is nothing we haven't heard before.
First of all, the players have absolutely no leverage in a work stoppage. None. MLS will keep making money through Soccer United Marketing off of all those Mexico exhibition matches and Interliga and will simply wait for the players to come back to the table. Nor do I think it would be some kind of death blow to the league or a particular team - single entity with a multitude of operator-investors almost guarantees that. So if the players force a work stoppage for free agency, they've woefully overplayed their hand. And after having lost several players unhappy with the MLS way to Europe in the off season, I don't think the union has the guts to mount a long fight.
So I don't believe there's going to be a long work stoppage, which makes the point of how bad off would MLS be kind of moot. I think it would go over really poorly with the fans, but as we've seen before, those are the last people taken into account in a standoff like this.
-FS
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