Causes and Effects of the Last Work Stoppage in Each of the Four Major Sports

Causes and Effects of the Last Work Stoppage in each of the Four Major Sports

Within the past thirty years, the four major sports in America (baseball, basketball, football and hockey) have witnessed electrifying championships and legends that have made an everlasting mark. Despite the memorable moments, all four of those sports have also seen times of trouble. Unfortunately, labor disputes that have caused lockouts and player strikes have not been uncommon over the past thirty years. When researching the labor disputes that have resulted in the loss of many regular season and postseason games there are many different topics to research. Exploring background information and primary causes of the labor disputes is essential in understanding why games were cancelled. In addition, with the loss of games being played, the host cities, owners and players all felt positive or negative economic changes. Following an agreement to end the work stoppage; the league must make sure that fans are still interested in the game and that attendance figures make a full recovery. These factors are vital in evaluating and understanding the state of the game following a work stoppage.

1987 NFL Players Strike

When the NFL collective bargaining agreement (legal agreement between owners and players) expired on August 31, 1987, the players had many grievances that needed to be resolved in a new agreement. They were extremely dissatisfied with the current structure of free agency, contracts, and pension payments (Staudohar, Communications 27). They wanted to be able to test the market in order to raise their salary, like players in the MLB and NBA. They felt the current structuring of contracts made it impossible for them to test the market. In addition, players felt that the NFL should double its payments to player pensions. The average NFL career is very short and can result in permanent disabilities (27). Unfortunately, the owners refused to accept the players’ demands causing them to miss games in September and October (28).

The cancellation of one game and using replacement players in three other games did not pose a major financial threat to NFL owners. As teams played three games with substitute players, television totals gradually declined week by week. Conversely, attendance raised during weeks two and three after an initial decline (29). Despite having to reimburse fans that did not attend games and television networks, NFL owners felt a positive economic impact. They gained revenue because they paid replacement players at only a fraction of the cost (29-30). On the other hand, the players lost over $80 million which was about $15,000 for the average player; a small portion of their salary (30). Due to the brevity of the strike host cities did not feel any economic impacts.

After seeing replacement players take their spots, the players were quick in trying to reach an agreement. Union leader Gene Upshaw kept close contact with all of the players to make sure they were all on the same page (26-27). Unfortunately, the players were not completely unified and some began playing during the strike. Unable to get the players together, Upshaw submitted a request to reinstate all of the striking players, return to the old agreement for the rest of the season, and submit all issues to a mediator. The owners quickly rejected this offer; leaving the union no choice but to end the strike on October 15, 1987 (30). On the same day an antitrust suit was filed against the owners challenging free agency and other rules that shifted the competitive balance. Mediator and Judge David Doty did not make a decision and called for the players and owners to try and work out a new deal (30-31).

When the players agreed to return to action in mid-October, many fans were disappointed with the union’s and players’ approach during the strike. Every three out of four fans felt that the owners were right. Although fans were annoyed with the players, attendance levels and television ratings eventually returned to pre-strike levels (30-31). In the end, the players suffered most because they lost their unity when players like Lawrence Taylor and Joe Montana continued to play through the strike. As no agreement was made the NFL Players Association dissolved leaving the players a long road ahead as they tried to reorganize and have their demands met (Golden Moments).

1994 MLB Players Strike

Following the creation of free agency in Major League Baseball there became a large disproportion between big-market like New York and small-market teams like San Diego (Staudohar, MLB 23). Small market teams could not afford the large costs that players were demanding through free agency and salary arbitration. Therefore, most owners wanted to fully eliminate salary arbitration, institute a salary cap, and have revenue sharing between large market and small market teams (23-24). However, the players were quick to disagree and while negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement on August 12, 1994, the players walked out of the meeting. This officially began the 1994 MLB Players Strike and lead to the cancellation of the rest of the 1994 season and 18 games in 1995 (25).

Economically, the 1994 MLB player strike occurred at the worst possible time, the last quarter of the season. Since the players had received most of their salaries the owners were susceptible to financial losses until they received large television revenues generated from the postseason. It has been estimated that the owners lost over $1 billion due to the cancellation of regular season games, the 1994 World Series and most of Spring Training in 1995 (26). However, host cities did not feel an economic hardship because fans spent money on other outdoor activities (Baade, Baumann, Matheson, 3-5).

By the end of 1994 President Clinton’s efforts to have mediators settle the labor dispute and compromise had failed. The owners had declared an impasse and demanded the enforcement of a salary cap immediately (Staudohar MLB, 25). However the dispute finally came to an end on March 31, 1994, when District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor ruled to end the work stoppage since the players stopped striking and the owners refused to lock the players out (26). The only issue decided by the strike was to place a luxury tax to teams with an above average payroll. This luxury tax would then be distributed to teams in smaller markets (27).

On Opening Day in 1995 baseball had lost a significant amount of its fan base. Exciting storylines from 1994 were cut short because of the strike. For example, Tony Gywnn was batting .394 and Ken Griffey Jr. was on pace to have another 50 homerun season (26-27). After being disappointed fans were initially hesitant to come back. Competitive balance issues