RSL owner: MLS could crumble if players strike

(by Michael C. Lewis sltrib.com 3-18-10)

While his players prepare for a strike, Real Salt Lake's Dave Checketts has joined a growing chorus of Major League Soccer owners and investors who warn that such a move would be "absolutely devastating" to the league.

"I don't know how Major League Soccer survives it, to be honest," Checketts said. "It's that serious."

The players are ready to strike at midnight Tuesday, according to multiple sources and news reports, if they cannot agree with the league on a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one that expired Jan. 31.

That deadline is barely two days before the new Philadelphia Union expansion team is scheduled to open the season against the Seattle Sounders on national television --and just four days before RSL begins defense of its MLS Cup championship at San Jose on March 27.

"It's definitely a tense time," RSL defender Nat Borchers said.

Yet the players insist they won't abandon their pursuit of what they call basic rights. Primarily, they want greater freedom to change teams and more guaranteed contracts, and voted 383-2 recently to authorize a strike.

Owners maintain that either concession would hurt them financially and jeopardize the stability of the league that has fought for years to build a firm footing on the fringe of the U.S. sports landscape.

"We're basically sticking to our guns," said Borchers, one of two union representatives on the team. "We've been very reasonable in the things we've been seeking. We're not going to start the next season without a new collective bargaining agreement. We're not willing to accept the status quo."

Both sides have agreed that negotiations have yielded little progress, and a strike would disrupt a season that many view as crucial to the continued development of soccer in the United States.

Interest in the game is expected to be heightened by the World Cup in South Africa this summer, while the league expects not only to add the Union as its 16th team but also witness the opening of the New York Red Bulls' new $220 million stadium in suburban New Jersey.

"If we don't play this year," Checketts said. "It's not going to be in anybody's best interest."

Checketts is among several owners and investors who have spoken up in recent days, after keeping quiet during weeks of negotiations. He said he and his partners have sunk about $200 million into building RSL over the past six years -- that includes the money they needed to help finance Rio Tinto Stadium -- and that most owners are still losing money.

Even RSL lost money during its title-winning season last year, he said.

"We have to have an attitude of continuing to build the league -- by everybody," he said.

Yet Checketts also sounded an ominous tone when he said that a strike would unleash a "whole streamroller of events" that he believes the players have not considered.

"I want to say to my players, make certain you guys understand the implications" of a strike, he said. "Make sure you understand how we might respond, and make sure you understand what it might create. ... In a sport that has come as far as we have, struggling for relevance, this just seems like the absolutely worst time to have a work stoppage."