The influence of franchise agreements on the governance of professional sports leagues in the United States
Keywords:
franchise agreements, sports governance, professional sports leagues, antitrust, United StatesAbstract
This article presents empirical evidence regarding the influence of franchise agreements on the governance of professional sports leagues in the United States. This paper analyses how franchise agreements fundamentally shape the governance of major professional sports leagues in the United States, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL). The franchise agreements are rooted in league structures, the autonomous governance of sports league, labour relations, collective stability, profit maximization, and other core principles that define the unique governance model of professional sports leagues in the United States. This paper further analyses the impact of the dominant governance structure in major U.S. professional sports leagues on joint contractual actions taken by league members within these collaborative business frameworks Finally, this paper concludes that as cooperative commercial structures increasing dominate the governance of the major U.S. professional sports, franchise agreements remain the foundation driver behind these dynamics. Such agreements are expected to sustain autonomous governance, revenue sharing, and competitive balance, fostering long-term league-wide solidarity.
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