Soccer supporters and professional athletes from around the country have made it clear they're hopeful Major League Soccer and the MLS Players Association are able to avoid a work stoppage.
On Wednesday, the eve of the deadline for negotiating adjustments to the existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between MLS and the MLSPA, MLS players received widespread support from some of the most prominent players unions in North American sports, including the NFL Players Association.
"Athletes support athletes," read a tweet issued by the NFLPA. "We support all players, and we stand with the players of the @MLSPA as they fight for fairness. #LetThemPlay2021"
"Today we watch closely as our brothers represented by the Major League Soccer Players Association face a threatened lockout," a statement from the Major League Baseball Players' Association released via Twitter said. "Despite already providing far more than their fair share of relief to Major League Soccer, the league is pushing them for more. Enough is enough. Let the players do what they do best – play soccer at the highest level and entertain millions of fans across North America."
The National Basketball Players Association also released on Twitter a statement of support for MLS players, stating, "The NBPA stands in solidarity with their union brethren in the MLSPA."
Unions representing United Soccer League players, Women's National Basketball Association players and other sporting organizations also aligned themselves as the labor dispute in MLS continued.
The league’s new season is set to open April 3 with preseason training camps set to open on Feb. 22. Both dates are in jeopardy if CBA terms can't be reached by the league's owners and players union by Thursday at 11:59 p.m.
While the league has been weighing the complications and financial losses resulting from the novel coronavirus pandemic, MLS club owners and the MLSPA returned to the bargaining table in December to renegotiate a CBA for the third time in a year.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that wrought financial havoc on MLS looming large over the talks and the prospect of more lost revenue in 2021, the parties are attempting to settle issues ranging from player compensation to the length of the CBA, which has implications for the distribution of money from future TV deals.
MLS claims $1 billion in revenue was lost in 2020 as a result of pandemic-related complications.
The MLSPA maintains it has already made its fair share of concessions to help league-wide operations continue. In a Jan. 28 press release, MLSPA stated it had already made what amounted to more than $200 million in combined financial concessions.
If a lockout were to commence, MLS players would become free agents who could move to clubs in other parts of the world, although existing contracts with MLS clubs would supersede agreements with international clubs at the end of any lockout period.
This week, FC Cincinnati supporter groups also voiced support for the players and encouraged the parties involved in the negotiations to allow the season to proceed as currently planned.
Die Innenstadt, The Pride, Dayton-based Hangar 937 – supporters groups recognized by FC Cincinnati – all tweeted out letters of support for the players including the hashtag "#LetThemPlay2021."
