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Report: MLS, players near agreement that should avoid lockout

Brett Carlsen / Getty Images Sport / Getty

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Major League Soccer and the Major League Soccer Players Association reached a "major breakthrough" in negotiations Tuesday that should avoid a potential lockout, as first reported by ESPN's Taylor Twellman.

The two parties are close to agreeing to economic concessions for 2020 and revised terms to the collective bargaining agreement that would presumably clear the way for the league's proposed tournament in Orlando, ESPN's Jeff Carlisle adds.

The deal would also ease the league's financial shortfall amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The prospect of a lockout surfaced Sunday when MLS reportedly pushed back against the players' proposal to take a 7.5% pay cut rather than accept an 8.75% reduction and opposed the players' demand for a greater share of revenue from broadcast rights.

The most sensitive subject was the force majeure clause, which would allow either side to withdraw from the CBA if there was a catastrophic event. The MLSPA took exception to MLS' proposal that would give the league "the right to invoke the clause if five teams suffer an attendance drop of 25% or more from the previous year, while the MLSPA's doesn't have that stipulation," Carlisle explained after last weekend's breakdown in talks.

MLS has softened its stance on linking the force majeure clause to attendance, Carlisle reports, and now instead supports an MLSPA proposal that "used a more industry-standard approach patterned after the NBA." The MLSPA is also expected to reach a compromise with MLS on pay cuts and revenue sharing, sources told Carlisle.

The MLSPA should receive a formal deal later Tuesday, with the players then taking a ratification vote in the next 24 hours. Carlisle believes MLS' "heavy-handed tactics" during these negotiations will "no doubt create some angst within the MLSPA membership" and test the relationship between the league and the union that represents its players.

The current proposal for the tournament in Orlando is for teams to arrive in Florida on or around June 24. The squads would stay at the central base for six weeks, playing group-stage matches before the top two teams from each of the four groups progress to the knockout rounds. The MLSPA has reportedly accepted MLS' return-to-play plans.

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