In Spotlight this week is PLPA PresidentPeter Schmitz. PLPA Correspondent Ron MacSpadyen caught up with Peter for this exclusive interview.
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Peter, congratulations on your recently negotiated collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the National Lacrosse League (NLL). What new provisions impact current players and what is the term of the agreement?
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This CBA negotiation, although far less contentious than the previous three I have been involved with, had its own challenges. With recent expansion, there has been an influx of new players who have one agenda and then a strong backbone of veteran players who have another. Expansion was the number one issue of concern when questionnaires were circulated to our members. Older players tended to focus on their ability to move and younger players wanted more money. We tried to help them both while recognizing that the league needed a boost and a negative portrayal of negotiations might discourage expansion and the sale of some franchises.
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What do you see as the most important benefit for the players from this recent agreement?
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The introduction of unrestricted free agency.
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What do you see as the most important benefit to the league from this recent agreement?
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The appearance of salary stabilization in a 12-games-paid-for-14-games-played scenario. The reality is that only the rookies and the highest paid players are impacted. All players who have played at least one year have the ability to negotiate more than last year s seasonal pay or if offered less, they can become
a restricted free agent. It still allows for the possibility of a club to get a game of revenue without paying for the player s salary for two games in theory. It is our hope that the clubs will take that hypothetical money and put it towards the promotion of their respective clubs.
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How do you think the 2000-01 unbalanced schedule will work out?
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On the topic of the unbalanced schedule, I don't know how it will work out. I think we will be quite surprised by some of the results this year. PLPA VP Dave Succamore and I made a quick tour to a couple of pre-season scrimmages and the caliber of play is outstanding across the board. There is going to be a few upsets this year.
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As President of the PLPA, how do you read the mood of current players toward growing the game? Are players happy with where the game is today? Do they feel more needs to be done?
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As I mentioned, the players want to see the sport grow and I think we collectively are very excited with the prospects. The new league office is enthusiastic and qualified with high, but attainable, goals. They have complete support of the clubs and that in and of itself is positive. The next three years will be, in my opinion, the most important in league history. They have worked closely with the PLPA since coming onboard in August and we are encouraged by what we see. As an example, the players invited NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings, NLL Deputy Commissioner George Daniel and NLL VP League Operations Barry Powless to our Annual General Meeting in St. Catharines this past October and they spoke to us for about two hours. Their effort and willingness to be open with us as to their plans was refreshing. Their promise to work closely with us on grievable issues both past, present and future resonated well with all our members. Their background and their goals were clearly portrayed and the collective feeling was that the next few years will be very interesting. Time will tell.
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Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez recently signed a 10-year, $252-million US deal with the Texas Rangers. According to my math, that's about $2 million more than Rangers owner Tom Hicks paid for the team in 1998. While lacrosse players aren't anywhere close to those numbers today, where do you see salaries in the cost structure of professional sports, and maybe more specifically, the NLL?
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It is hard to fathom the numbers being thrown around in professional sports today. I suppose the coined phrase from my side would be that if they (the owners) can offer it, imagine what they are making. It is however hard to believe that the quality of athletes that play these other professional sports are any better than the ones that we have to offer NLL fans. Many of these professional sports have now existed for close to one hundred years so we are still in our embryonic stage. I am confident that this sport will become the next big sport in North America. It has all the ingredients that draw fan interest: our games are high-scoring, physical, fast, action-packed and skilled. The game itself is seeing unprecedented growth in North America. As the game grows with additional television coverage and sponsors, the money will be close behind. We are already seeing teams bulk up their infrastructure for scouting and coaching. The competition for players will also play a role.
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What must the NLL do to take lacrosse to the next level and how can the players help the league reach those goals?
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We have already taken one big step by giving the owners a chance to generate a little more revenue without player costs. Hopefully, they will take whatever savings and put it back in the promotion of their clubs, whether it be for more TV packages, more salespeople, bigger and better promotions and so on. We can't direct them where to put it but we hope they recognize at this early stage in our life as a league, the money made should go toward building equity not attempting to get a quick return on their investment.
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The NLL launches in Columbus, Ohio, Ottawa, Ontario and Washington, D.C. this season. What do you feel are the necessary ingredients to ensure long-term franchise success in those markets?
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The interesting thing is that there is no formula for success. There is however a recipe for failure- these clubs need to be competitive. I suppose you can look at the way Toronto built their franchise and it started with a quality club. They also did a great job of promoting the team and getting the games on television. They used their affiliation with the Toronto Maple Leafs advantageously allowing them to slip the Rock in on many promotions and garner many sponsors. They had staff that were involved with both groups allowing for economy of scale. They used the first year to build and capitalized on it the next year financially. Syracuse however attempted much the same thing in their first, second and third years and failed in each. The Smash, however, never had close to a winning record.
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New NLL Commissioner Jim Jennings has announced some aggressive near-term objectives to increase league revenues and promote franchise expansion. In which markets would you feel most confident about future NLL expansion opportunities?
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It is really hard to predict which markets will flourish. The league is making a conscious effort to stay in big markets with good facilities. I don't think we are ready for long road trips in light of the majority of the teams being in the northeastern region of the North America. Long trips are not only costly but pose other practical problems. The short answer would be: large cities with good facilities north of Atlanta and east of Chicago for the foreseeable future. Of course, if a western division could be established all at one time, I would change my answer.
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Tell us about the continuing development of the PLPA. What challenges are ahead for the 2000-01 season?
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Well, I feel we have done a lot as a part-time organization, but we are lacrosse players (or former lacrosse players) first and union guys second. We have the interest of the sport in mind but will not allow the players to be exploited. As the sport grows, the complexity will grow along with the workload and I anticipate we'll need to bulk up our infrastructure. We are aware and poised to do so if and when it is necessary. The upcoming challenges are to educate the players on the changes to the CBA and see that the owners follow the rules accordingly. We are hopeful that the authority which has been given to the NLL league office will translate into much less bothersome grievances for the players than we have had during the past few years.
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Peter, thank you for your time and insights. All the best for continued success with the PLPA.
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Thanks Ron for your help.
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