Decision-Making in a Professional Team Sports Competition

Abstract

National labour relations law has assisted players in the NBA and Premier League to secure involvement in the determination of working conditions, constrain the exercise of private regulatory authority that can adversely affect their interests and establish a situation of relatively equal bargaining power for the negotiation and agreement of working conditions. Achieving employment-related regulatory rules or terms of participation for a competition that is organized at an international level, which represent a compromise between the players’ interests and the interests of an international federation and the national federations is more problematic. The employment relationship, if one exists, will arise at a national level and the decision-making environment at an international level may not include or consider in a meaningful way the interests of professional players. This chapter summarises the decision-making processes that arise in the NBA, the Premier League and international rugby union which affect the employment of players, and considers the legal mechanisms available to balance power in professional sport.