With the news that the members of the MLS Players Association and MLS both ratified a revised Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on Monday, MLS has guaranteed itself labor peace, at least for this season.

1. WhatthenewMLSCBAdealmeansfor
owners,playersandthe'26WorldCup
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WhatthenewMLSCBAdealmeans
forowners,playersandthe'26World
Cup

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1 41AMCT
With the news that the members of the MLS Players Association and MLS both
ratified a revised Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on Monday, MLS has
guaranteed itself labor peace, at least for this season.
It wasn't easy.
The just-concluded talks marked the third time in roughly a year that the two
sides have hammered out a CBA, due primarily to the impact of the coronavirus
pandemic. What started out as significant gains by players last February
devolved into $150 million in concessions over the life of the deal last June.
Neither side offered up a dollar figure in the latest CBA, but the league had been
seeking upwards of $110m in concessions over the life of the deal from the
players, while the MLSPA offered up $53m. To reach an agreement, the league
had to use the threat of a lockout. Again.
Sowhatdidtheleaguegain?
The biggest gain for MLS was their ability to extend the length of the CBA for an
additional two years through the end of the 2027 season. This has the effect of
doing two things. One, the extension delays the jump in compensation that
typically comes with a new CBA. Second, such an extension provides the league
with considerable distance from the 2026 World Cup -- co-hosted by the U.S.,
Canada and Mexico -- and takes away leverage from the MLSPA to negotiate
improved terms in the run-up to the tournament and its immediate aftermath.
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3. MLS also succeeded in limiting the growth of the total roster spend (not
including Designated Players) between the 2021 and 2022 seasons to $100,000,
an increase of just 1.1%. This is on top of a freeze negotiated last June that froze
the budget between 2020 and 2021. This will have a ripple effect into future
seasons.
The share of incremental media revenues -- which will kick in when a new
media rights deal is negotiated starting with the 2023 season -- was decreased
from 25% to 12.5% in 2024.
Lastly, the dreaded force majeure clause remains in place, but with restrictions.
It was this clause -- invoked because fans aren't likely to be allowed back into
stadiums any time soon -- that allowed the league to reopen negotiations in late
December and bring the MLSPA back to the bargaining table. With a deal now
done, the clause cannot be invoked again until Dec. 1, 2021. This means that if
MLS is still struggling financially into the summer, it can't come back to the
MLSPA and try to reopen negotiations again. After Dec. 1, anything goes.
WhatdidtheMLSPAgain?
This deal wasn't so much about what the MLSPA gained, but what it didn't lose.
Preservation of present salaries has been a consistent goal of the MLSPA
throughout the two most recent CBA negotiations. A source with knowledge of
the situation said the union made direct payments to players last year in a bid to
ease the sting of the 5% annualized cut in salaries, which resulted in the average
annualized pay cut being reduced to 2.5%.
With that in mind, the union maintains that it had three goals entering these
negotiations. The first was no cuts to 2021 salaries. The second was any current
contracts for 2022 and beyond must be honored. (In other words, no coming
back to the MLSPA and insisting on a salary cut, as was done in 2020.) The
third was that minimum salaries and player bonuses would increase each year
through 2027.
All of these goals were reached. According to details published by the league,
the senior minimum will rise from $81,375 in 2021 to $125,875 in 2027, and the
reserve minimum will rise from $63,547 in 2021 to $97,700 in 2027. Team win
bonuses and contributions to players' 401(k) will remain as they were in the
previous CBA. The MLSPA also secured accelerated growth rates in terms of

4. spending on salary toward the back end of the deal, with the year-over-year
growth rate increasing to 7.5% in 2026 and 10% in 2027.
The MLSPA also made modest gains in free agency for 2026 and 2027, with the
eligibility requirements going from 24 years of age and five years in MLS to 24
and four. The MLSPA says this will have the effect of making a third of the
entire MLS player pool eligible for free agency, compared to zero prior to 2015.
Keep in mind, though, that there are limits to what players can make via free
agency based on their previous salary.
Sowho'won'inallofthis?
At first glance, you'd have to say the league and its owners, who used their
leverage to good effect. They asked for concessions from the players and got
what they wanted in terms of both the salary cap freeze and two-year extension.
The force majeure remains in place as well, though with short-term limitations,
and any "givebacks" are far down the road toward the end of the deal.
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Was it a total loss for the players? No. They're still getting paid their full salaries
for 2021, and in some cases beyond. That was their stated aim all along. But the
MLSPA was playing defense from the beginning, and with the threat of a
lockout hanging over the union's collective head, the players had to give plenty.
The growth of the spending on salaries is essentially frozen for two years,
including the current season. The delay in the expiration of the CBA -- and the
bump that usually comes with the next deal -- is considerable. The total player
spend per team of $9.225m in 2020 represented a 13.1% increase from 2019,
Theleaguewillberestrictedinhowitcanusetheforcemajeureclauseinthefuture.
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