Sports Business Journal reports that the CBA negotiations between the MLS Players Union and the league have taken an interesting turn: in addition to guaranteed contracts (currently contracts don't become guaranteed until a certain point in the season), the players are said to be asking for free agency.
This would constitute a fundamental change in the way that Major League Soccer conducts their business; with the single-entity structure, all contracts are negotiated by the league and players can be assigned to any team at the discretion of MLS. Free agency is something the league is afraid of, as it has the potential to result in skyrocketing salaries as clubs vie for a player's services.
The "single-entity" structure goes well beyond how the league contracts players, of course, including the collection of revenue and how that money might be dispersed among the franchises. Outside of the money above $400k that hits the salary cap for a Designated Player, all salaries are paid out of a central salary pool dictated by the league and the CBA. Free agency wouldn't seem to fit the model. In that system, each team must be allowed to negotiate contracts without worrying about league approval, something that seems unlikely to change.
MLS has rightly watched every penny since their launch in 1995, something which has given the league viability and longevity despite the second-class nature of the sport in the United States (and now Canada). For the league to reverse themselves at this juncture, just when they appear to have leverage in the marketplace with expansion clubs coming, would be counterproductive.
My sense is that the players union feels it necessary to bring up free agency whether it's actually a possibility or not. They are, after all, and advocacy organization whose ultimate goal is to get the players the best possible deal; free agency would certainly be that, as the current system artificially depresses salaries and keeps players from playing where they'd like to. The system is the sticking point, but we can hardly fault the Union of asking; it's their job.
That being said, MLS will not be going to free agency anytime soon. The owners can rightly argue that it's exactly single-entity and central contract ownership that has allowed the league to reach this point; to change it now would be folly, a step away from financial responsibility that would have more than a few of us wondering if MLS truly is headed down the NASL path.
