MLS and the MLS Players Association on Friday evening announced a tentative labor deal that’ll allow the parties to avoid the first work stoppage in the league’s 25-year-history while paving the way for the regular season to start in early April.
The fate of the 2021 campaign had been left uncertain following the league’s late December decision to exercise a force majeure clause in the CBA reached in June 2020. Claiming it faced a second year of heavy, pandemic-related losses, MLS sought an additional $100 million-$110 million in concessions from the MLSPA and threatened to terminate the CBA and institute a lockout if no accord was reached.