The MLS Labor Battle Is Not Going to Be Pretty

Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Players Union have set up the first serious round of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement to take place within the next few weeks, according to a source close to the situation.

Neither MLS nor the players union would reveal the exact day or location of the meetings, but both acknowledged that talks have been scheduled.

The current CBA, which was signed prior to the start of the 2010 season, expires after this season, and negotiations are expected to be complicated and possibly contentious as the players continue to fight for more rights.

Talks are likely to center on raising the salary minimum, which is currently at $37,500, and on raising the team salary cap. The two sides are also expected to discuss free agency and the system for allocating players.

The players aren't expected to fight the league's single-entity status, which allows MLS to control all player movement by owning all player contracts. The league then disperses players to their respective teams according to whatever allocation guideline the players fall under (draft, designated player, etc).

Players have seen only incremental raises as a result of the 2010 CBA. There is some hope that the minimum salary could potentially double, but even then, MLS players would be earning far below the minimum salary of other major American sports (MLB $500,000; NBA $507,336, NFL $420,000).

"We have had some initial meetings and plan to begin the bargaining process this fall," MLS spokesman Dan Courtemanche said. "Our goal will be to finalize an agreement that is mutually beneficially to both parties. Also, we have a great relationship with Bob Foose and his staff at the MLS Players Union."

Foose, executive director of the players union, declined to comment.

The players association has more leverage this year than in previous CBA talks because of the growing success of the league. This year, MLS signed a new television deal with ESPN, Fox and Univision that will pay the league approximately $90 million annually through the next eight years. Also, the league will add teams in Orlando, New York, and Atlanta in the next few years. David Beckham is also trying to secure stadium funding in order to bring a team to Miami. Expansion fees paid by each of these new franchises range from a reported $70 to $100 million.

Both sides are desperately trying to avoid a work stoppage that might dent some of the momentum the league has built in the last few years. Aside from advances made in the television contract and with expansion, the league's average attendance has grown by almost one and a half percent from last season. Also, several teams either match or surpass the average attendance of their Major League Baseball counterparts.

All but four of the league's franchises (D.C. United, the New England Revolution, the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps) play in recently built or recently redesigned soccer only facilities. Such spending will make it difficult for the league to argue that they are under any financial restraints.

Now the players want the league to share some of the profits. The question will be how far they are willing to go. Certainly a strike in the short term would alienate the league's burgeoning fan base. But in the long term, one could argue that any advances won by the players—such as better pay, perhaps free agency—with a strike might help attract more worldwide players, which would be better for the league as a whole.

Even some within the league have argued that limits on player movement—enacted in the early day of MLS in order to maintain fiscal responsibility amongst teams, thereby ensuring overall league stability—have become outdated now that the league appears to be thriving financially.

"I don't think there is any question about the fact this league is going to be around," Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena told the Washington Post earlier this year. "We have very strong ownership, so now the next challenge is whether we can make it into a league of more quality."

As a testament to how sensitive MLS is right now to any criticism from its employees about a system that will be put to the test during CBA discussions, Sports Illustrated reported on Tuesday that Arena will be fined for those remarks, and others regarding the allocation process.

The scheduled talks are the first step in what will likely be a lengthy negotiation.

Jorge Arangure Jr. is a senior staff writer for Vice Sports. He has previously worked as a contributor for the New York Times, and as a senior writer for ESPN the Magazine and as a staff writer for the Washington Post. He can be reached at jorge.arangure@vice.com