The COVID-19 outbreak has put quite the financial strain on professional sports leagues in the United States over the last two months, and there doesn’t appear to be any end in sight.
Major League Baseball and its players don’t quite see eye to eye when it comes to how athletes will be paid for a 2020 season shortened by the pandemic. Owners have proposed a 50-50 revenue split with players for the season as fans likely will not be in attendance for most or all of the season, but several players feel they’d get the short end of the stick.
According to one report, however, players weren’t given much of a choice.
MLB recently gave the Players’ Association two options, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. Option 1 would see players and the league negotiate a new financial agreement other than prorated pay for athletes playing games without fans in the stands. Option 2, however, would be simply to wait until the coronavirus clears up to the point where fans can be in the stands.
MLB in recent talks gave the union 2 options: 1) negotiate a new financial arrangement (sonething other than prorated pay for players playing games with no fans in attendance) or 2) wait until the Coronavirus yo clear to the point where fans can attend games.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 19, 2020
Doesn’t sound like players were given much of a choice.
Whether you believe players should be willing to take a pay cut or not, this probably wasn’t the most effective strategy if MLB wanted to reach some sort of agreement with its players. It’s unclear when the league conveyed this news to the players and their union, but it certainly is playing a part in the current rift between them and the league.
