In what order would you rank the major leagues in terms of favoring the players over organizations?

[MMC]

how would you rank the MLB, NBA, NHL, and NFL in terms of favoring the players over teams in terms of CBA, etc?

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[AdmiralsFan24]

1. NBA
2. MLB
3. NHL
4. NFL

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Could @mymerlincat please restate the question in a more clear manner? I'm not really sure what's being asked so I don't know how to answer it.

 

[Inkling]

I really don’t know the NBA that well but of the other three, MLB is definitely first and NFL is definitely last.

 

[MMC]

Could @mymerlincat please restate the question in a more clear manner? I'm not really sure what's being asked so I don't know how to answer it.

What I mean is where the players have more leverage, less restrictions, etc.

 

[Deleted member 93465]

1. Soccer.

2. Daylight.

3. NBA

4. MLB.

5. NHL

6. NFL.

 

[Fenway]

The NBA has many loopholes in the CBA that are player friendly.

The NFL the players have little leverage.

 

[Inkling]

For the very top players, I'd say the NHL might be the worst of all the major sports. NFL Quarterbacks get paid, but the top NHL players like Crosby, McDavid and Ovechkin probably don't get what they are really worth and have to leave money on the table so that their team can build a competitive squad around them. For the average player though, NHL is definitely better than the NFL.

 

[Bookie21]

For the very top players, I'd say the NHL might be the worst of all the major sports. NFL Quarterbacks get paid, but the top NHL players like Crosby, McDavid and Ovechkin probably don't get what they are really worth and have to leave money on the table so that their team can build a competitive squad around them. For the average player though, NHL is definitely better than the NFL.

Are you serious? ...Not a chance NFL is higher than NHL, NFL players don't have guaranteed contracts, and no leverage, unless you're a QB

 

[Ted Hoffman]

What I mean is where the players have more leverage, less restrictions, etc.

Ah. In that case,

1. MLB - it's not even close. The players had so much power at one point, the only thing they were really missing is the ability to dictate how franchises could be run. As it is, they have control over when rules can be changed and the league has limited options to overrule if the players decide not to go along with something and get automatic trade veto rights after certain experience thresholds, among a number of other things. That's pretty damn impressive.

2. NBA - on paper, it appears they should be #1. In reality, after you get past the superstars [who are dictating salaries and playing terms] and a handful of mid-tier guys who get to go along for the ride, a lot of them can be bought and sold pretty easily.

3. NHL - the players have more say than they did 20 years ago, but the owners are still pretty firmly in charge.

4. NFL - I'm not sure who's a bigger piece of meat: NFL players or soccer players in Europe.

 

[Deleted member 93465]

Ah. In that case,


4. NFL - I'm not sure who's a bigger piece of meat: NFL players or soccer players in Europe.

You're kidding, right? I've yet to come across a sport in which the players have more leverage than in soccer. A jaw-droppingly idiotic hot take you got there.

1. Trading basically doesn't exist in soccer. A player is within their right to refuse a club's willingness to move him on. The trades you see in the major where players are shunted to another city on a whim doesn't exist in soccer. In soccer, they can refuse and keep collecting their paycheck until their contract runs out.

2. If a player expresses a desire to move in soccer, they almost always do. Especially when they hand in transfer requests. Show me an example of that in the NFL, or indeed the other leagues.

3. Oh yeah, that paycheck is guaranteed for the life of the contract. None of the nonsense you see in the NFL with guaranteed money and guys getting cut. You can't get cut in soccer. If they terminate your contract, they have to pay you out for amount remained on it.

Honestly, your claim just shows you know nothing about the sport, and probably only feel that way because you heard somewhere that players in soccer can be 'bought'. Anytime a player is bought by another club, it's because that club has to compensate the selling club for the whatever length remained on the contract. They're buying the rights to give him a contract. And even then, they can only do so as long as the player agrees to it. If they don't want to go, they tell them to f*** off. If they do want to go, they tell their current club to f*** off. If that's not player power, I don't know what is.

It defies belief that you would say they are treated like meat. Soccer players and their agents basically run the sport. Without a salary cap, they take an inordinate amount of revenue generated (the most of any sport), and move about with the kind of freedom you will never see in NA sport.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

Let's take this in pieces, shall we?

1. Trading basically doesn't exist in soccer. A player is within their right to refuse a club's willingness to move him on. The trades you see in the major where players are shunted to another city on a whim doesn't exist in soccer. In soccer, they can refuse and keep collecting their paycheck until their contract runs out.

You know who has this power, right? The major star players, because no club is dropping 9 digits on a transfer fee for the player to not show up or to show up unhappy. You know who doesn't have this power? The Dave Smiths who aren't even end-of-the-bench guys for the backup teams on the top tier squads in Europe and would be ecstatic to have a chance to play for a season in the top league somewhere. Those guys? They get bought and sold regularly, and no one gives a f*** about their feelings; they don't want to show up, whatever - the team will find someone else to fill that role for the same price, because those rights were fairly cheap to begin with.

2. If a player expresses a desire to move in soccer, they almost always do. Especially when they hand in transfer requests. Show me an example of that in the NFL, or indeed the other leagues.

Let's differentiate between "transfer" and "trade request."
* Transfer - swap to another association league. Transfers also happen within leagues, but I'll denote that differently below.
* Trade - swap to another team within the same association league.

For transfer requests: as you noted, it's a request. The player's team can look at it, chuckle, and lob it into the trash if it wants - and the player's recourse is shut the f*** up and deal with it or go back to the training center and sit there. Or, the team can take that request and go shop for the highest bidder for the player's services and send him there. In NA sports, there's no such thing as a transfer.

For trade requests, ... in football; you're a player and you say you want to go play for another team in the league, and your current team will tell you to f*** off as long as you still have term on your current contract with the team. In NA sports, and the same approach applies - except that the player may have control over where he does / doesn't end up via NTC/NMCs or prohibitive contracts.

3. Oh yeah, that paycheck is guaranteed for the life of the contract. None of the nonsense you see in the NFL with guaranteed money and guys getting cut. You can't get cut in soccer. If they terminate your contract, they have to pay you out for amount remained on it.

Well, except when the player gets transferred. Then, the existing contract gets torn up and the player has to negotiate a new contract. So, it's guaranteed* contracts.

Honestly, your claim just shows you know nothing about the sport, and probably only feel that way because you heard somewhere that players in soccer can be 'bought'. Anytime a player is bought by another club, it's because that club has to compensate the selling club for the whatever length remained on the contract. They're buying the rights to give him a contract. And even then, they can only do so as long as the player agrees to it. If they don't want to go, they tell them to f*** off. If they do want to go, they tell their current club to f*** off. If that's not player power, I don't know what is.

So, players can in fact get bought - it's just not called buying the player. It's called compensating the selling club. And the transfer fee paid has far more to do with "whatever length remained on the contract." That might be a factor in it, but it's a drop in the bucket. It has much more to do with bidding against other teams to get the services of the guy you want.

It defies belief that you would say they are treated like meat. Soccer players and their agents basically run the sport. Without a salary cap, they take an inordinate amount of revenue generated (the most of any sport), and move about with the kind of freedom you will never see in NA sport.

This might be the best point you make; that players make up an inordinate amount of revenue generated. And, it's why FIFA's Fair Play standards came into being - because some teams were intentionally spending themselves into oblivion. But again, just like other sports the vast majority of money spent on football players gets spent on the superstars; the lesser guys are crap and have virtually no leverage because they're easily replaceable.

 

[PCSPounder]

Netflix has a documentary series called Sunderland Til I Die. Great stuff if you're interested.

The story of Jack Rodwell refusing to tear up his contract to leave a team that had fallen out of the Premier League- and was in position to fall AGAIN- should tell you something about how many levels of soccer really do favor the player.

Now... if your standard is whether, um, oh, Taylor Leier has 75% of the leverage Claude Giroux has, um, er... we can have an NBA v MLB v Soccer discussion. There is a level of soccer player who doesn't get all the spoils... but there's a lot more options if you want to travel.

 

[viper0220]

For the very top players, I'd say the NHL might be the worst of all the major sports. NFL Quarterbacks get paid, but the top NHL players like Crosby, McDavid and Ovechkin probably don't get what they are really worth and have to leave money on the table so that their team can build a competitive squad around them. For the average player though, NHL is definitely better than the NFL.

The highlighted is not true.