Right now, the professional sports leagues and their players are united in the war against the invisible enemy, the coronavirus.
But soon, there could be a civil war, matching owners against players.
It's just one more significant hurdle that must be leaped before sports return.
The fighting could be especially bitter between baseball's owners and players. The players, despite having guaranteed contracts, have agreed to be paid only for the games that are played in what will be a shortened season, but they believe it will be on a prorated basis. That means if the Los Angeles Angels play 81 games, Mike Trout will make just half of his $36 million salary or $222,222.22 per game. But the owners are expected to ask the players to take additional pay cuts because of the millions they will lose in revenue from television and empty ballparks without fans. That means Trout might have to get by on $111,111.11 per game.
Pirates center fielder Jarrod Dyson pulls in a ball during drills Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
The players' argument is based on two premises:
One, and they say this is the big sticking point, if the games aren't safe enough for fans to attend, why should anyone believe they are safe for the players? Why should the players be asked to travel for games when the public is being advised not to travel? "It goes back to not having fans in the stands," Yankees catcher and union executive board member Chris Iannetta told ESPN during the weekend. "If there's no fans in the stands, there is an intrinsic risk that players are going to undertake. There is an intrinsic risk that support staff and coaches are going to undertake. We should get fairly compensated for taking that risk for the betterment of the game and the betterment of the owners who stand to make a huge profit off the game."
And two, unlike the other pro leagues, there is no salary cap in baseball that is tied to revenues. "I understand the team isn't making money on tickets, concessions or any of that stuff," Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey last week. "But if you think about seasons where they do really well, make a ton of money and sell out every game, we don't get a raise just because they made a lot of money and did really well. I don't see why we should have to take a pay cut when things are tough."
This is a war the players can't win, at least not in the court of public opinion.
Not now.
Not with a pandemic that has ruined and is ruining millions of lives.
"Athletes don't really ever win when we talk about salary," Pirates pitcher and team player rep Jameson Taillon acknowledged on an interview Thursday on 93.7 The Fan.
That isn't to say anyone will root for the billionaire owners in a civil war. If anything, a lot of people probably hope both sides lose, so sick are they that greed has taken over pro sports to such an ugly degree. But that doesn't mean the players aren't going to have to take severe pay cuts. They already are going to receive a full year's service time even if no games are played. If I'm one of the owners and some players refuse to play in a contract huff, I would let them sit and play the games without them. Then, they would make nothing.
Big salary cuts for players certainly are coming in the NBA, NHL and perhaps the NFL if its season is shortened because the players are paid based on the revenue coming in. NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that brutal times are ahead for both owners and players in a conference call Friday with the players and their union leaders. "The CBA was not built for extended pandemics," he said in audio obtained by ESPN.
Silver said the league gets 40% of its revenues from game nights when its arenas are filled. He then laid out a frightening scenario that, if there is no timely vaccine or cure for the virus, there could be games without fans not just for the rest of this season but for the 2020-21 season, as well.
"This could turn out to be the single greatest challenge of all our lives," Silver said.
Not just for owners and players.
For all of us.
