The 2011 National Football League Labor Dispute

Authors: Marcos A. Abreu, Brandon D. Spradley

Affiliations: United States Sports Academy

Corresponding Author:
Marcos Abreu
Doctoral Student
United States Sports Academy
One Academy Drive
Daphne, Alabama 36526
mabreu@students.ussa.edu
251-626-3303

Marcos Abreu is a doctoral student at the United States Sports Academy studying sports management.

Collective Bargaining & Conflict Management

ABSTRACT
In 2011, after two years of negotiations since the NFL opted out of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, conflict between the players and owners increased and the relationship between employee and employer became dysfunctional. As a result, the NFLPA that represents the players during collective bargaining, decided to decertify. By announcing that the NFLPA no longer represented the players in collective bargaining before the current CBA expired, the players were able to invoke the Sherman Act that allowed the NFL players to file class-action anti-trust lawsuits against the NFL.

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