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Pro lacrosse league signs CBA through to 2020

Andy Watson

Security, it's exactly what professional lacrosse needed and it came last week in the form of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) through to the 2020 National Lacrosse League (NLL) season.

The NLL's new CBA is effective immediately and was reached in part by sharing its financial outlook and information with the PLPA following an independent review of the league's books.

PLPA President Peter Schmitz said he appreciated the “productive candid negotiation over the past 18 months.”

"I applaud the players for their willingness to assist the clubs in stabilizing expenses for the next two years with the hopes that they and the league are rewarded with growth and expanded awareness of our great sport,” Schmitz said in a release. “The non-economic gains afforded to the players were a welcome improvement to current conditions and will be appreciated for many years to come.”

The new CBA includes modifications to the free agency system that are designed to increase free agency including:

  • Dropping the qualifying age of unrestricted free agency from 32 to 30 years old.

  • Reducing the of franchise designations per team from two to one.

  • Giving “veteran” players aged 34 or older the ability to reject franchise-player designation.

NLL Commissioner George Daniel said the new CBA will allow the league to improve its business model.

“This deal should foster a great era of growth for the league. I would like to thank everyone from both sides who worked on reaching this deal,” Daniel said.

However, with added games to the overall schedule, it may pose a problem for Canadian summer box lacrosse leagues, with whom the league did not consult.

“We had a legal obligation to negotiate with our players association on the issue of extending the season,” Daniel said. “If it was an issue for the players, they could have raised it. As I stated earlier, not only did they not object but they expressed a desire for even longer playoffs in the future.”

Any potential impact on other leagues was secondary to the concerns of the players, Daniel said.

“It should also be noted that we have two fewer teams actually earning playoff berths, so any conflicts due to a longer playoffs will likely be offset by the fact that more players will be available to play in summer leagues immediately following the NLL regular season,” Daniel said. “We feel that the two-game format works best for us at this time due to the fact that we limit play to weekends. Also uncertainty with respect to arena availability is a factor as well with electing to go with a two-game format. We believe this is a good first step for us.”

Daniel said, other than talks with the PLPA, the NLL did not consult with or discuss the expanded playoff format with any other party.

“The players were very positive about the concept of expanding playoffs, and in fact were very receptive to even more playoff games in the future,” Daniel said. “The players association did not express any concerns with potential scheduling conflicts with summer lacrosse leagues, so from our standpoint, it was not an issue that required any further attention.”

Other highlights of the CBA:

  • Expanded regular season schedule from 16 to 18 games, and expanded playoff format to include a two-game series in the semifinal and championship rounds

  • Luxury tax system inclusive of player salaries, bonuses and promotional consideration

  • Reducing active rosters from 23 to 20 players, increasing practice player rosters from three to four

  • Generally, base salaries minimum and maximum limits will remain unchanged for the first two years of the agreement

The 2014 NLL regular season opens on Saturday, Dec. 28. A list of upcoming key dates is listed below:

  • Oct. 22: Clubs are permitted to re-negotiate and re-sign contracts of players on their roster.

  • Oct. 29: Deadline for Qualified offers to Veteran players classified in section 7.1 of the C.B.A. Franchise Player designation due date.

  • Oct. 30: Free Agency Signing – Clubs are now permitted to contact, speak and sign Rostered Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) and Rostered Unrestricted Free Agents (UFAs) as per the League listing of said players. Clubs can sign non-rostered free agents (street free agents) and the previous seasons' practice players.

  • Nov. 8 – Dec. 22: Training Camps Period – for teams opening regular season on Dec. 28, 2013 (maximum of nine sessions, maximum of 40 players, includes exhibition games/scrimmages).

  • Nov. 15 – Dec. 29: Training Camps Period – for teams opening regular season on Jan. 3-4, 2014 (maximum of nine sessions, maximum of 40 players, includes exhibition games/scrimmages).

  • Dec. 12: Roster cut down to 20 players.

  • Dec. 28: 2014 NLL Regular Season begins.

  • March 18: NLL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET).

  • March 20: Trade Deadline Roster Submission (3 p.m. ET).

  • April 26: 2014 NLL Regular Season ends.