The Economics of European Soccer Under Fire: AKA The Transfer Fee - A Primer

[Unregistered]

The European soccer transfer market, explained

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/...rope-explained

How do transfers in the football industry work? Who gets paid? What does "player sold for free" mean?

https://www.quora.com/How-do-transfe...-for-free-mean

How FIFPro legal action against FIFA could result in abolition of player transfer fees

http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/...-transfer-fees

Football transfers: Is the transfer fee about to be consigned to history?

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/18/fo...s-fifpro-fifa/

The European soccer system can basically be described as legalized slavery where the clubs have strong "ownership" rights that can be bought and sold. These ownership rights can produce huge profits that essentially are the economic underpinning of the whole game in Europe from the very top professional leagues all the way down. They are also extremely restrictive for the player who have very few rights and little control over their own career. It is quite unlike the contractual rights of an American professional athlete who, thanks to Curt Flood, are basically free agents who can sell their services as they see fit. The transfer fee is in the process of being challenged and the implications could be far reaching. Even to our shores.

[Unregistered]

The European soccer transfer market, explained

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/...rope-explained

How do transfers in the football industry work? Who gets paid? What does "player sold for free" mean?

https://www.quora.com/How-do-transfe...-for-free-mean

How FIFPro legal action against FIFA could result in abolition of player transfer fees

http://www.sportskeeda.com/football/...-transfer-fees

Football transfers: Is the transfer fee about to be consigned to history?

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/18/fo...s-fifpro-fifa/

The European soccer system can basically be described as legalized slavery where the clubs have strong "ownership" rights that can be bought and sold. These ownership rights can produce huge profits that essentially are the economic underpinning of the whole game in Europe from the very top professional leagues all the way down. They are also extremely restrictive for the player who have very few rights and little control over their own career. It is quite unlike the contractual rights of an American professional athlete who, thanks to Curt Flood, are basically free agents who can sell their services as they see fit. The transfer fee is in the process of being challenged and the implications could be far reaching. Even to our shores.

The differences between European soccer and American sports are considerably smaller than you claim. First, while he was an admirable guy, American free agency isn't due to Curt Flood because Flood lost his case. The Seitz decision several years later was the beginning of free agency, but the main reason why American athletes have free agency is because it was collectively bargained in the wake of the Seitz decision. Second, the claim that "American professional athlete[s] ... are basically free agents who can sell their services as they see fit" is massively overstated, as anyone who has ever watched one of the drafts of college players should know. Drafted players, which include the vast majority of top players, are generally only free to sell their services to whomever they wish after spending a certain amount of time in the top league. Third, since the Bosman decision a quarter-century ago, players in European leagues have had similar rights upon the expiration of their contracts.

[Unregistered]

The differences between European soccer and American sports are considerably smaller than you claim. First, while he was an admirable guy, American free agency isn't due to Curt Flood because Flood lost his case. The Seitz decision several years later was the beginning of free agency, but the main reason why American athletes have free agency is because it was collectively bargained in the wake of the Seitz decision. Second, the claim that "American professional athlete[s] ... are basically free agents who can sell their services as they see fit" is massively overstated, as anyone who has ever watched one of the drafts of college players should know. Drafted players, which include the vast majority of top players, are generally only free to sell their services to whomever they wish after spending a certain amount of time in the top league. Third, since the Bosman decision a quarter-century ago, players in European leagues have had similar rights upon the expiration of their contracts.

Baseball is no better - farm league players get traded at will like Whacky Pack cards

[Unregistered]

The differences between European soccer and American sports are considerably smaller than you claim. First, while he was an admirable guy, American free agency isn't due to Curt Flood because Flood lost his case. The Seitz decision several years later was the beginning of free agency, but the main reason why American athletes have free agency is because it was collectively bargained in the wake of the Seitz decision. Second, the claim that "American professional athlete[s] ... are basically free agents who can sell their services as they see fit" is massively overstated, as anyone who has ever watched one of the drafts of college players should know. Drafted players, which include the vast majority of top players, are generally only free to sell their services to whomever they wish after spending a certain amount of time in the top league. Third, since the Bosman decision a quarter-century ago, players in European leagues have had similar rights upon the expiration of their contracts.

The European system is very complicated, especially in a digital world with regard to image rights. One of the things that struck me was that a club could retain the player's transfer rights even if they were not living up to their end of the contract by paying him and could nix a deal if it weren't rich enough for them.