WEEK 6 DISCUSSION A

KIN 607: Legal Aspects of Sports

Week 6 Notes: Professional Sports League Governance and the Implications of Antitrust Law

The following Week 6 Notes emphasize important concepts in the Learning Materials and provide additional information related to these concepts.

A group of principal players govern professional sports leagues in the United States. The topics addressed in the Week 6 Notes:

· Government Structures

· Role of the Commissioner

· Power of the Commissioner

I. Governance Structures

Each major U.S. sports league has a particular governance structure.

· Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA)

Organizational Chart:

· The commissioner is sole person on the top tier of the organizational chart.

· The Executive Council reports directly up to the commissioner from the second tier of the organizational chart. The Executive Council is made up of 8 members: 4 owners from each league.

· Committees (created by the Board of Governors) report directly up to the Executive Council from the third tier of the organizational chart.

· National Basketball Association (NBA)

Organizational Chart:

· The commissioner is sole person on the top tier of the organizational chart.

· The Deputy Commissioner feeds into the reporting structure to the commissioner from the second tier of the organizational chart.

· Vice Presidents, the Secretary, and the Treasurer all report up to the commissioner from the third tier on the organizational chart.

· Board of Governors (30 members; made up of team owners or their representatives) reports up the organizational structure from the fourth tier of the organizational chart through the Secretary to the Commissioner.

· Committees (created by the Board of Governors) report directly to the board of Governors from the fifth tier on the organizational chart.

· National Football League Players Association (NFLPA)

Organizational Chart

· The commissioner is sole person on the top tier of the organizational chart.

· The Secretary and the Treasurer are on the second tier of the organizational chart and independently report directly to the commissioner.

· The Executive Committee (32 members: 1 member from each team) reports directly to the Commissioner from the third tier in the organizational chart.

· Committees (can be created by either the Commissioner or Executive Committee) always report directly to the Commissioner from the fourth tier in the organizational chart.

· National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA)

Organizational Chart

· The commissioner is sole person on the top tier of the organizational chart.

· The President, the Treasurer, and the Secretary individually report directly to the commissioner from the second tier of this organizational chart.

· The Board of Governors (30 Members: 1 from each team) resides on the third tier of the organizational chart and reports to the commissioner through the treasurer.

· Committees (created by the Commissioner) report directly to the Board of Governors from the fourth tier of the organizational chart.

II. Role of the Commissioner

Role (1)

· Two documents that govern how leagues operate are constitutions and bylaws. Generally speaking, constitutions set forth an organization's principles and values. Thus, a constitution answers the question of "why" an organization exists, or "what" it serves to do.

· As for bylaws, generally this document sets forth the process by which an organization conducts its business. Thus, bylaws answer the question of "how" an organization does what it does. In the world of sports, organizations may have either a constitution or bylaws, have both, or have a document that entails what both constitutions and bylaws capture but call it something else.

· These documents serve as contracts between the leagues and their teams. They outline what rights and responsibilities each party owes the other. They also outline the governance structure for each league.

· Additionally, in its constitution, each major professional sports league in the United States calls for the creation and existence of the role of the commissioner.

Role (2)

· A commissioner is an independent individual responsible for handling a league’s internal affairs. 

· Although the commissioner works independently from team owners, the commissioner is hired and fired by them.

Role (3)

· Resolve league disputes and enforce discipline

· Restrain unwarranted exercise of power by league owners

· Facilitate efficient decision making and league governance

· Serve as a mediator among owners

· Lead negotiations of league-wide contracts

· Mediate labor disputes

III. Power of the Commissioner

Commissioners in the United States have a broad, sweeping power that they can use in executing the functions of their role. This power is called the “best interest of the game” power. Commissioners can use this power in:

· Disciplinary functions

· Dispute resolution

· Decision making

Owners afforded commissioners this sweeping power because they wanted to ensure that the integrity of their leagues was maintained with the public. While owners have given commissioners broad power to act, owners have a way to limit this power. If the owners do not like how the commissioner is using his or her power, the owners may fire the commissioner. Other than firing the commissioner or rewriting their constitutions and bylaws to revoke the power, owners do not have many options to limit the power of the commissioner (Mitten et al., 2013).

Other than firing the commissioner or rewriting their constitutions and bylaws to revoke the power, owners do not have many options to limit the power of the commissioner (Mitten et al., 2013).

References

Mitten, M. J., Davis, T., Shropshire, K. L., Osborne, B., & Smith, R. K. (2013). Sports law: Governance and regulation, College edition. New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.