MLS-CBA Negotiations: Playing Through Hard Times

The majority of focus on the current MLS Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations has been on the business aspects. Before you think, ‘well, duh,’ look at exactly who is involved in these negotiations and think about actually being a player in this situation.

Many players will surely provide the standard politically correct statement that all they want to do is play, and that is true. But do not kid yourself into thinking that these players are not concerned about what is going on the negotiation table. It is tough to imagine what it must be like being a player in any MLS preseason camp right now.

D.C. United, F.C. Dallas, Toronto F.C. and the New York Red Bulls, for example, are down in Florida gearing up for a season that now kicks off in about a month, but how focused can all of these players truly be?

Think about it: If you did not know what your future brought – whether or not you would have a job or where you might have to move to work – it would be pretty tough to focus. It would be something that weighs on your personal and professional life, and such a situation is one familiar to many average folks currently fighting tough economic times.

If I am the average player in MLS (no, not the likes of Landon Donovan, Dwayne De Rosario, Taylor Twellman, or other well-established MLS players), I am probably more than concerned about where my future in soccer stands if I am them. Will I be playing in the U.S.S.F. Second Division? USL-2? Who knows?

The question is one that is less about a paycheck (although in the end, we are talking about CBA negotiations) and more about a sense of security. I’m not totally sure that the players or Major League Soccer and its owners have that sense. The fans certainly do not.

What exactly we found out from Thursday’s happening is not all that new, but here is a good round-up from Goal.com.

Hopefully, for the players more than anyone else, this mess sorts itself out.