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Professional sports have become big business and there are many legal issues we could
discuss. In today’s article, we will deal with the legal issues involved in a unique
aspect of professional sports: The draft system that forces a player to play for a particular
team.
In professional sports, players are typically drafted out of college or the minor leagues.
Being drafted means that the rights to the player’s service belong to one team
only.
Normally, in the absence of being eligible for some form of free agency, the player
can only play for a different team if he is traded. Can you imagine lawyers or engineers
being told that they must work for a particular company in a particular city?
Doctors have been, rightfully, in my view, outraged when provincial governments have
attempted to regulate where they practice.
In the ordinary business world, such restrictions risk being found illegal by virtue
of being in restraint of trade or by contravening the federal competition Act or antitrust
statues in the Unites States.
In Canada, the Competition Act has a specific section dealing with any restrictions
on the team for which a professional athlete chooses to play. Essentially, the section
says that the court should apply a standard of reasonableness when deciding if a restriction
is legal.
The court is explicitly instructed to consider the benefit of maintaining a balance
between teams in the same league. If any player could sign a contract with any team at
any time – that is, 100 per cent free agency – the teams
with the most money would always have the best teams. Also, there is obvious value for
the fans in having the same player on the same team year after year.
The act also instructs the court to consider the international ramifications of its
decision. Obviously, it would be undesirable for Canadian teams to be operating under
rulers different from those governing American teams.
As a result, professional sports are not held to the same standards as other businesses.
On the other hand, restrictions that go too far have been struck down, particularly
in the United States. Players’ rights must be respected as well.
Some degree of free agency allows them to play where they want eventually. It also has
the effect of driving salaries upward.
As in all areas of law, a balance must be found. Both in Canada and the United States,
the law has attempted to find a common-sense compromise between the competing interests
of the players the owners, the fans and the sport as a whole.
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