Labor Pains on the Playing Field: Why Taking a Page from Europe's Playbook Could Help the United States

Abstract

Work stoppages have become commonplace in American professional sports. Whether it takes the form of a strike or a lockout, a work stoppage, or the threat thereof accompanies nearly every labor dispute between owners and players. This is hardly surprising, though, because the current system for resolving labor disputes-the National Labor Relations Act and its implementing body, the National Labor Relations Board is ill-fitted to the unique challenges posed by sports labor issues. Additionally, there is no institution tasked with directly overseeing professional sports in America. The same is not true in Europe. Oversight bodies are common throughout Europe and help to resolve sports labor disputes before they turn into full-blown work stoppages. As this Article discusses, American professional sports need this type of oversight. Therefore, this Article advocates a two-tiered approach to solving American professional sports' culture of frequent work stoppages. First, the United States should enact new legislation to govern the resolution of sports labor disputes, as it has already done to regulate labor disputes in other American industries. Second, the United States should create a body charged with overseeing professional sports and implementing this newly-created legislation. By taking these two steps, the United States can end the pattern of work stoppages that plagues professional sports labor disputes and provide stability to this critical American industry.