Negotiating Protections for Sports Sponsors When Disputes Arise Between Teams and Players

Many writers, observers and enthusiasts following this year's professional sports labor disputes in both the NFL and the NBA focused solely on the players, the owners and the fans. But there is another group of stakeholders that is inevitably affected by a lack of labor peace: sponsorship partners.

16 minute read November 28, 2011 at 09:31 AM
By
Benjamin R. Mulcahy
Negotiating Protections for Sports Sponsors When Disputes Arise Between Teams and Players

The end of a collective bargaining agreement between a professional sports league and the players association that represents the athletes triggers a series of dominos: The players go on strike; the league implements a lockout of the players; the parties meet over the course of several weeks to try to negotiate a new deal; both sides posture, with the league cautioning that pre-season and regular season games will be cancelled and the players association threatening to decertify as a union if a new agreement cannot be reached; the league files an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board coupled with a declaratory judgment action in U.S. district court seeking a ruling that the lockout is a legitimate negotiation tactic under the labor laws; the union decertifies and files its own lawsuit claiming that the league's lockout constitutes price-fixing and an illegal group boycott in violation of the antitrust laws; and fans brace for lost games.

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