Fictional Scenario Background for Footballers Simulation -

Common Information for Both Owners and Players

(Note: Footballers = "soccer players" but footballers is the more common international term)

The Federal Football League (FFL) was formed in March 2013. The FFL comprises 8 teams, with two Philadelphia based Clubs and one Club located in each of New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Denver. Each FFL Club employs 32 players, with FFL matches having four 20 minute quarters, with 15 players on the field and an unlimited interchange bench of the maximum 32 players. The FFL plays a three game exhibition series and a 21 game regular season. One game is played each Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon during the regular season. The finals series is played over three weeks, with the Grand Final played on the third Friday night of September. Friday night games and the finals series are televised free-to-air with a one-hour delay on ESPN and all games are televised live on the RabidSport (pay-TV) network.

With a host of the elite American footballers playing in the FFL, support for the new league has been strong with match attendance averaging 35,000 for the first two FFL seasons (2014 and 2015) as well as strong free-to-air TV ratings and increased subscriptions to the RabidSportchannel. The strong interest in a premium sports product has led to much speculation by market analysts regarding the signing of a new free-to-air TV contract. Such an eventuality would dramatically improve the profitability of the FFL.

All FFL clubs are majority-owned by Sports Corp. All the players in the league are employed by Sports Corp. and were initially placed with the clubs on two-year contracts. The Federal Football League thus represents single entity league concept - all Owners form a negotiating team (and a representative group of Players form a negotiating team. As many of these two-year contracts are about to expire at once, the Owners have publicly acknowledged the possibility of introducing of a player draft. A draft would regulate the entrance of new players to the league and counter the possibility of competitive imbalances caused by players seeking to transfer between clubs now they are 'out of contract'. Anticipating that this will lead to salary inflation, the Owners are also investigating the introduction of a salary cap on player wages. Legal advisors have questioned the validity these two together as a possible illegal "restraint of trade" but no court decisions have addressed this so it is an unsettled issue.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is being negotiated between the Owners of the FFL and the National Association of Professional Footballers (NAPF), the players' association formed to represent FFL players with a 100% membership rate. This first CBA in the history of the league represents the first opportunity for the NAPF to take a strong stance in support of the collective interests of players and player welfare in the FFL.

Bargaining Issues

The initial round of discussions between the FFL Management Committee and the bargaining committee of the NAPF identified five (5) key issues for negotiation in the formation of the CBA:

1. The LENGTH OF THE AGREEMENT.2. The introduction of a PLAYER DRAFT.3. The right of individual players to CHOOSE THEIR OWN FOOTBALL BOOTS (in America, these are commonly called "cleats" but the international term is used here).4. (a) Introduction of a SALARY CAP on club player wage expenditures; and (b) The required number of games played for a player to qualify for a 'MARQUEE PLAYER' EXEMPTION from the salary cap, where 50% of that player's salary is excluded from salary cap calculations.5. The level of MINIMUM ANNUAL SALARY.

Further discussions have indicated the proposed salary cap would be set at $3.5 million. These negotiations were leaked to the media and there is now a high degree of public awareness of the discussions, with prominent media commentators suggesting the commencement of the new football season is under threat unless a collective agreement can be reaching in the near future.

In order to reach an agreement over the issues listed above, three negotiation sessions have been scheduled, after which the parties have agreed that unresolved issues will be referred to a private commercial arbitrator. Although they have agreed to the inclusion of an arbitrator in the bargaining structure, both parties have expressed concerns about this eventuality. Neither party wishes for this to occur given the uncertainty of an arbitrated outcome to the satisfaction of both parties.

1. What is the Owners' BATNA, as you see it described here?

2. What is the Players' BATNA, as you see it described here?

3. Which party -- Owners or Players -- would benefit from a longer Collective Bargaining Agreement? Remember that the CBA locks salaries and all of these terms in place for its duration. Put another way, who likely wants to keep salaries and terms the same for the longer amount of time, and why?

4. Which party -- Owners or Players -- is more likely to want to institute a player draft? Why?

5. Which party -- Owners or Players -- is more likely to want control over the football boots (soccer cleats) that players wear? Why?

6. Which party -- Owners or Players -- is more likely to want to have players classified as "Marquee" (Expert) after the least amount of games possible? Remember, a Marquee player is exempt from any salary cap limits and can demand higher salaries.

7. Which party -- Owners or Players -- is more likely to want a higher minimum salary for the Players?