The MLS Players Association and the league announced on Monday that they have formally ratified a new Collective Bargaining agreement.
The two sides reached a tentative agreement on Friday with the MLSPA's executive board and bargaining committee voting 24-11 to pass the agreement on to the full union membership for a vote. Player voting took place over the weekend and through noon ET on Monday.
- MLS schedule: Season to begin April 3; MLS Cup Final on Dec. 3
The agreement has been approved by the league's board of governors. With approval from the players formalized, the MLS vote clears the way for the opening of training camps on Feb. 22, and the start of the MLS season on April 3. It also avoids a termination of the CBA and a lockout of the players, which had been threatened by the league if a deal couldn't be reached.
"We have enormous respect and appreciation for everything the players have done helping build the League and the sport throughout the years, and they've gone above and beyond during the pandemic," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said in a statement.
"We thank the MLSPA leadership and the players for their thoughtful and collaborative approach on the new CBA. We worked together to address the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on the League, and we appreciate the players' efforts to develop a CBA that deals with the uncertainty of the pandemic while also providing stability during the next seven years to enable further growth. We look forward to seeing the players on the training field in a few weeks as they begin preparations for the upcoming season."
MLS announced that the proposal on the table would extend the CBA by two years through 2027, a clause that the league had fought for ever since the start of negotiations and something that had been a sticking point in the talks.
The extension has the effect of delaying the jump in compensation that typically comes with a new CBA. More importantly, 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 the years that follow.
Sources told ESPN that among the player benefits contained in the proposal are no cuts to salaries in 2021, along with improved free-agency terms in 2026 and 2027, in which players 24 years of age and with four years of service would qualify. The old deal required five years of service.
The players would also receive a 10% across-the-board salary increase in 2027 and improved salaries for players classified as senior minimum. In terms of the revenue-sharing deal for the next media rights contract, the players will get a percentage of the difference between the new deal (plus $100 million). In 2023 and 2024, that percentage will be 12.5% (a decrease in 2024 of 12.5 percentage points), and from 2025 to 2027, that percentage will be 25%.
Negotiations on the revised CBA were reopened after MLS invoked a force majeure clause on Dec. 29 because of the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the slower-than-anticipated rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, MLS expects it is looking at another year with little or no fans in the stands. Given its reliance on game-day revenues, MLS says its finances will be severely impacted and that players should bear some of the sacrifices.
The union had countered that MLS' approach was done not out of financial necessity but rather out of financial opportunism. The MLSPA made $150 million in concessions over the life of the deal when it signed the previous CBA last June.
The invoking of the force majeure clause opened a 30-day window for the two sides to negotiate a revised CBA. Because an agreement wasn't reached within that window, either side could've terminated the CBA. But MLS was the only side that threatened such a maneuver, stating that if a deal wasn't agreed upon, it would not only terminate the CBA but lock out the players as well.
The threat of a work stoppage gave the league increased leverage, and MLS used it to good effect, extracting the main concessions it sought at the beginning of the talks.
This marks the third time in the past year that the two sides have negotiated a CBA. The two sides reached an agreement in principle last February, but neither side formally ratified the deal. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, MLS reopened negotiations, with the two sides agreeing on a revised deal last June. In that deal, the league succeeded in getting the aforementioned force majeure clause inserted.
Sources told ESPN that the force majeure clause won't be in force through Dec. 1, 2021, but can be invoked after that time.