For all the billions of dollars the sports industry generates, its labor laws and negotiations are still relatively new, and their impact is only beginning to be felt. Labor Relations in Professional Sports offers a step-by-step examination of how these new management-player relationships have come about and what they may portend for the future. In an engaging style that is rich in sports history and anecdotes, the authors examine the background of the major team sports--baseball, football, basketball, and hockey--and analyze how business and legal considerations have affected each sport's development. They also probe current unresolved issues and predictable future problems, such as the relationships of broadcast networks and sports leagues. Surprisingly, this book with so formidable a title is not only readable but even difficult to put down. Explanations of complex legal decisions are reduced to brief, lucid passages. Extensive footnotes are provided in each chapter for readers who wish greater detail. Choice . . . a comprehensive treatment of labor relations in sports. . . . Overall, the book is a slam-dunk success. Journal of Law and Commerce

Longlisted for the 2016 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing presented by PEN American Center Are today's professional athletes nothing more than selfish, greedy millionaires with no idea how ordinary people live? The common perception of today's professional baseball, basketball, football, and hockey players is of individuals always wanting more money and better working conditions. When it comes to labor issues in sports, the usual media spin portrays topics such as strikes by players and lockouts by owners as millionaires in dispute with billionaires; each group as self-interested as the other. However, as is often the case, the truth is vastly different. Sports and Labor in the United States demonstrates that players are often exploited by ownership and fight for matters of principle, not simply material gain. In accessible, nontechnical language, Michael Schiavone presents a comprehensive examination of labor relations in American professional sports and how they have evolved over time. Separate chapters on MLB, the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL provide an overview and analysis of each sport from their organized beginnings up to the present day. Like no other work before it, Sports and Labor in the United States provides a comprehensive and detailed understanding of labor relations in American sports for scholars, those interested in labor issues, and sports fans.

Fans of professional sports have been forced to pay attention to labor relations in the last five years. The 1994—1995 season reminded baseball enthusiasts that a player's strike can mean something more than a swing and a miss, and the fans of other sports have experienced similar frustrations. In Playing for Dollars, Paul D. Staudohar analyzes the business dimension of sports with a timely assessment of the interactions among labor, management, and government in baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Author of The Sports Industry and Collective Bargaining, an earlier version of the current volume, Staudohar describes the mechanics of contract and salary negotiations, including the pivotal issue of free agency. He explains how unions became established in sports, how the balance of power shifted between owners and players, and how the salaries of stars escalated. He investigates the gambling controversies and changing drug policies that have sometimes alienated fans and comments, as well, on the impact AIDS has had on professional sports. Sports events are media events and Staudohar takes a look at the effects of television contracts and international expansion. He also considers the future of team sports, discussing league expansion, prospects for growth, and the issue of franchise relocation.

Employment relations, much discussed in other industries, has often been neglected in professional sports despite its unique characteristics. The book aims to explore in detail the unique nature of the employment relationship in professional sports and the sport industry.