Ethan Noah Zubak

“USL is completely unique in professional sports that you have a privately held company that owns the league.” USL Players’ Association rejected latest CBA proposal from USL and authorized a strike. Connor Tobin, executive director of USLPA, explains the business model of USL. “USL is completely unique in professional sports that you have a privately held company that owns the league,” he said. “In every other sports league, the league entity does not act as an independent profit center.” “Instead, the league brings in income and then in some way, shape, or form, that revenue is then distributed out to its clubs. That's not how USL works.” “When the money comes into the league. Again, the league's privately held so those owners are the beneficiaries, not the team owners.” “And so one of the things that we have in this ecosystem is a misalignment of financial incentives.” “You have a lot of the investment to build these clubs and build these community assets that are happening at a localized level. Those are team owners that are putting that up.” “They're carrying a lot of the risk, but a lot of the benefits are held by the league office. There's a disconnect there.” “So we can have expansion, we can launch a new league, we can sell new teams. That benefits one entity, it doesn't necessarily stabilize the club entities.” “If the clubs aren't stable. What happens to the players? Because the clubs are our direct employer.” “So again, this is about an ecosystem and an overall business environment. Is it aligned? Is it in balance? Is it working in unison?” “It’s not just risk to the club owners, it’s risk to the players.” “You’re asking about Tormenta, you’re asking about NCFC (both clubs are now on hiatus). Players have signed contracts, who’s carrying the risk in these situations?” “These are guys that signed leases. They’ve moved families to those locations. They’ve sat in market, they’ve trained on their own. And all of a sudden, two weeks out from the season, there’s not gonna be a team, here is a three months of severance.” “What happens to the cost of breaking your lease? What happens to foreign players who might have visas? What happens in any of these situations?” “What are the opportunities for employment on the other side of it given the timing? Who’s carrying the risk? That’s a system that’s not working for anyone.” It will be interesting to see if both parties can find an agreement before Friday, when the USL Championship season is supposed to kick off. [via United Soccer Lounge with Riley James on GOLZ TV]