Restarting Professional Sports During a Global Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 wreaked havoc on professional sports leagues. By mid-March of 2020, all leagues—including the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball—had shut down, along with the rest of society. As states began to open back up a couple of months later, professional sports leagues faced the same challenging questions as other businesses of how to restart their operations safely and effectively. However, they also needed to address unique difficulties facing sports that derived from the need for the league and their respective players’ union to negotiate and agree upon the terms and conditions under which they would relaunch the sport. The collective bargaining process required this of both sides, and while players and owners alike wanted to bring their sports back, significant legal and business hurdles persisted. While the NBA reached a resolution that was acceptable to the owners and players, MLB’s story was quite different. After an initial agreement was reached shortly after the season shut down in March, the two sides could not reach an agreement to restart baseball. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred eventually exercised his right to restart the season under previously defined terms, but no one saw the result as a success. The contrasting paths of the NBA and MLB illuminate the complex legal, business, and cultural issues that play into the collaborative venture of professional sports. It also highlights the importance of strong—or at least functional—labor relations in a sport. This Article seeks to analyze and better understand these issues and situate these professional sports leagues’ journeys to relaunching their seasons in the larger context of professional sports law and business.

Keywords: COVID, global pandemic, global health pandemic, collective bargaining, sports