MLSPU, Wrapped Around the Axle

After years of waiting for change to come from US Soccer and MLS, three youth clubs got together to sue the MLS Players Union (MLSPU) in attempt to get the ball rolling on training compensation and solidarity payments. Are they to win this suit, it would alter the face of youth development in the United States.

Vice Sports was first on the scene with the report. A good (and quick) summary of the suit can be found at Empire of Soccer. The key to including the names in the suit is at the bottom of the Empire report, but I'll repeat it here because it is important.

The three clubs released a joint statement regarding the players cited in the case: “The US Youth Clubs had to name the players, Dempsey, Yedlin and Bradley, as well as the defendant class of players, solely for a legal reason to maintain the Complaint. Our clubs have no desire to, in essence, sue their own kids and don’t really believe the players are needed here to resolve this, but the law is what it is. The US Youth Clubs have asked the MLSPU to stipulate that the players are not needed to maintain this action and if they agree, the US Youth Clubs will immediately drop the players.”

The reason that statement is important is because the MLSPU believes they are under attack from the very source of their players (and dues!). It'd be like the builders of the free spring the MLS drinks from deciding that they should be compensated for their free water.

The way payments in the US work now runs counter (surprise, surprise) to the way it's run in most of the rest of the world. The US is, in my opinion, backward in the way it handles youth development as a whole (ie. colleges and pay-to-play models).

Those smarter and more wise can explain why the suit is coming against the MLSPU and not the league itself. You could argue that they are two in the same, but my hunch is that taking on the union is the best way to make this happen.

A suit against MLS is a suit against the US Soccer Federation and they are entrenched with all the power of all the other pro leagues in this country. Secondly, and frankly, the MLSPU likely hasn't recovered from its last battle with MLS over the latest CBA. Dan Kennedy called it "untimely" in his statement responding to the suit.

The way training compensation and solidarity payments happen across the globe is simple. Team signs player --> clubs that had a hand in developing the player get a small cut of the fee. If you want to read more on it, head over HERE.

At the heart of the matter is MLS. Nobody gets anything in the US when a player signs with MLS. When a player winds up transferring overseas, MLS gets the compensation regardless of where the player learned how to play.

So, for example, when Tottenham Hotspur sign a player from the Seattle Sounders, training fees are paid but MLS keeps them. The clubs that built the player get nothing. On top of that, the league keeps most of the total actual transfer fee as well.

The growth of the NASL and USL are part of changing this conversation. Traditionally, at least for the last 20 years, MLS has had their hands on most players. That's changed a bit and large fees are being paid in leagues below them now - in some cases, like with Kwadwo Poku, away from MLS for more money (which demonstrates how mixed up this all is).

Bob Foose, Executive Director of the Players Union (and a name that many longtime watchers of the sport in the US recognize) offered a sharp response to the suit late yesterday, calling it a "shakedown for money." It sounds like something out of a kids movie, but it's how unions (sports or otherwise) talk. Their audience is the rank and file, not the offices of the NY Times or Washington Post.

Columbus Crew SC's own all-star Ethan Finlay, a spokesperson for the union, echoed Foose's words saying, "It’s absurd that they would try to shake down the very few players who come through their ranks and go on to play professionally. It is a shame that they have chosen to go this route."

I'm not sure if Finlay is playing the part of company man here or he is unaware how this would benefit future generations of player greatly. I'm hoping he is going with his heart. If it's with the MLSPU, that's okay, but I don't think he knows the potential impact of unblocking payments to developmental clubs in this country.

The lawsuit has the MLSPU all wrapped around the axle right now. I'm not sure they expected it, nor are they equipped to handle it, nor did they educate themselves before responding.

It might not come directly from this lawsuit, but this issue will eventually be resolved in favor of the youth clubs (and therefore, in favor of development in the US). The sport is too large and too rich to be completely controlled by one entity and a handful of people at the top.

We are seeing a change in the traditional thinking of player development in this country. Not just with soccer, but in the college and university system that other professional sports hold on to as well.

MLS Player Strike on Horizon

With teams looking to board planes Thursday for away games, Major League Soccer has about 24 hours from the time of this writing to get a deal done with the Players Union before the start of the season is pushed back.

From what I can gather, it's looking like the Union will instruct the players to strike. For how long is unclear but my guess is that it only lasts 4 to 8 weeks before it is settled. The major sticking point is Free Agency and MLS investors seems unwilling to budge much at the moment and players really want it.

Even though they are becoming extinct everywhere else, union labor disputes at the professional sports level are not unusual in the US. What makes MLS unique is that it is part of a global game with the top levels of it readily available at your finger tips. EPL, Bundesliga, LigaMX, La Liga, Serie A and more will all benefit a little if MLS has a work stoppage.

I don't think a strike hurts the overall game in the US or the rest of North America as the momentum is already there for pro soccer to survive. For the fan of domestic soccer - NASL, LigaMX and even USL stand ready to carry on even if MLS shuts down for an entire year.

A strike does, however, slow down the momentum MLS had. This hurts both the investors and players. We'll see how it plays out. Ultimately, a strike is sort of a futile exercise for the league. Greater change is needed in MLS - and that change comes in the form of the courts. Until the players realize they have greater powers as individuals in today's legal world - we will be right back here in a few years for the next CBA.

MLS Top Heavy Without the Glamour, Soul or Fun

Looking at the Top 5% vs Bottom 5% tells us that MLS is remarkably top heavy in comparison to other domestic leagues.

The addition of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Sebastian Giovinco to the MLS wage book got me wondering just how far out of whack the top guys in the league are getting verse the guys at the bottom.

You may have heard, maybe not (entirely possible), that the next MLS collective bargaining agreement is being negotiated right now. You probably haven’t heard much, I guess. Nobody has. With players reporting this week to get preseason exams and start training, it seems as if it’s business as normal.

Well, almost normal.

Harry Shipp’s recent comment about Giovinco’s salary is very telling and refreshingly candid “I wonder if Giovinco knows that he will literally make more money in 2 days than some of his teammates will the entire year,” he said. And he’s not wrong. MLS is close to going full “old NASL” (albeit without the glamour, soul or… fun) on us the past couple years after preaching slow and sustainable growth in the previous 16 or so.

I don’t understand why the league is ramping up investment on a handful of players at the top when it doesn’t raise the overall quality of the league, nor give more chances to US and Canadian players (which was part of the founding mission of the league). In fact, sprinkling in international talent tends to only raise the profile of the leagues from wince they came - something I’ve looked at, and still monitor.

Here’s a look at how many times the top 5% of MLS wage earners make over the bottom 5% as of the latest release from the MLS Players Union. To keep things level, I used Sportrac.com base salaries as my primary source. Housekeeping on the MLS side - I added only Giovinco and replaced Henry with Altidore (Lampard and Gerrard are not added and only makes it look worse for MLS players).

Reports had Giovinco’s Serie A salary at around $2-3 million per year. His $7 million dollar MLS wage makes him not on the highest paid player in the league but also the highest paid Italian in the world. It’s nuts. And it also highlights what MLS has to pay over market value to bring in a “top” foreign talent. Not sustainable. Not smart. And sort of erratic.

Last up is what if MLS paid the bottom 5% proportionally to the top 5% - the same as these other leagues - what would minimum wage look like...

$52,000 -- MLB
$53,000 -- NBA
$117,000 -- NHL
$140,000 -- NFL