Decertifying Players Unions: Lessons From the NFL and NBA Lockouts of 2011

15 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 473 (2013)

33 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2012 Last revised: 20 Mar 2013

See all articles by Nathaniel Grow

Nathaniel Grow

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Business Law

Date Written: January 2, 2012

Abstract

This paper analyzes the National Football League (“NFL”) and National Basketball Association (“NBA”) lockouts of 2011, focusing in particular on the role union dissolution played in each work stoppage. Although the existing academic literature had generally concluded that players unions in the four major U.S. professional sports leagues were unlikely to disband during a labor dispute, the unions in both the NFL and NBA elected to dissolve in response to lockouts by ownership. This paper provides an explanation for why the prior literature misjudged the role that union dissolution would play during the 2011 work stoppages, arguing that previous commentators failed to recognize that the frequently cited disadvantages of dissolving a union actually provide minimal disincentive to players during a lockout. The paper concludes by predicting that players will likely continue to dissolve their unions during future lockouts in order to gain negotiating leverage over ownership through the assertion of antitrust claims.

Keywords: Sports, law, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, baseball, basketball, hockey, football, lockout, CBA, collective bargaining, labor dispute, Brady v. NFL, Anthony v. NBA, Butler v. NBA, NBA v. NBPA

Suggested Citation

Grow, Nathaniel, Decertifying Players Unions: Lessons From the NFL and NBA Lockouts of 2011 (January 2, 2012). 15 Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law 473 (2013), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1978517 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1978517

Nathaniel Grow (Contact Author)

Indiana University - Kelley School of Business - Department of Business Law ( email )

Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
1,229
Abstract Views
6,629
Rank
31,100
PlumX Metrics