What the MLS referee lockout means for North America’s top soccer league
Major League Soccer referees have been locked out ahead of the beginning of the 2024 season set to begin on Wednesday evening with Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami set to play Real Salt Lake.
The Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), the labor union representing referees who work MLS matches, condemned the lockout by the MLS and the league’s referee employment organization. The lockout, a denial of employment by an employer during a labor dispute, was imposed on the referees after they overwhelmingly voted to reject a tentative new union contract agreement in a 95.8% vote, with 97.8% of the 260 union members voting.
“This is their weak attempt to apply economic pressure, and MLS is sacrificing the quality of the game to do that,” said Peter Manikowski, president and lead negotiator for PSRA, in a statement on the lockout initiated on 18 February. “We call it like it is – and this is a foul.”
The union has also alleged unfair labor practices against the MLS and the Professional Referee Organization. The union cited members rejected the deal in part due to an attempt by the MLS and PRO to add a no strike and no lockout deal for the 2024 season and would have frozen wages, rolled back job security protections, and not addressed issues such as high workloads and travel for referees.
According to the union, the lockedout referees are expected to protest outside of PRO headquarters in midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. “Workers representing other unionized labor will be on hand to support officials, including electrical workers, pipe fitters, railroad workers and more,” the union announced in a statement. New York State Senator Jessica Ramos will attend the picket.
The referee for Inter Miami’s opening match, which kicks off at 8pm in
Fort Lauderdale, is Cristian Campo Hernandez, a former college official who called games in the second-tier USL Championship last year.
“The word I will use to describe it is ‘embarrassing’,” CBS Sports Golazo commentator and former English midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker said in a segment on the lockout. “It’s not a great look from outside of America.”
The union also disputed characterizations of the rejected tentative agreement by the MLS and PRO, claiming the employer cited percentages and averages, as wage increases would be minimal or not impact all referees. The union claimed that referees were being compared to camera operators rather than to referees in other soccer leagues around the world. The current agreement reached in 2019 expired on 15 January and was extended briefly while negotiations continued until the recent rejection of a tentative agreement by union membership.
“Rather than taking care of some very basic needs that officials have,
MLS and PRO are willing to hurt the quality of the game. That should alarm every player, coach and fan, and it’s devastating to our officials, who have dedicated their entire lives – mind, body and extensive experience – to this game,” added Manikowski in a statement. “The skyrocketing growth of MLS has significantly increased demands on officials mentally and physically, and as such has increased demands on both our professional and personal time. Our members are asking not only for fair compensation at a time when the league is reporting record growth, but also for the ability to take care of themselves on the road and at home to continue officiating at the highest level that this sport demands.”
The union criticized the lack of wage and benefit improvements for referees given their increasing workloads in recent years, record team sponsorship revenue last season at $587m, market expansions, increases in the number of matches, wage gains for players, and the increasing popularity of the sport, especially with the arrival of Lionel Messi to the league last season and the prospect of the 2026 World Cup being played in the US.
On social media, the union has emphasized quality of life issues for referees that they say have not been addressed in negotiations by the MLS and PRO, including claims that “many MLS referees spend 200 to 240 nights away from home each year”, a 10% increase over the past five years. The union cited low pay for referees such as $337 for officiating a preseason game where the league sold 32,000 tickets.
The lockout means that referees under the union are barred from officiating matches until the MLS and PRO lift the lockout or an agreement is reached. The replacement referees include officials from international leagues, lower US divisions, and retirees, including PRO general manager Mark Geiger. The union has asked referees to stand in solidarity with the union members and not cross their lockout to serve as replacements.
The MLS last used replacement referees in 2014 for two weeks before an agreement was reached to end that lockout with assistance from federal mediators. Those two weeks of matches with replacement referees went largely without any controversy, but the league has since expanded from 19 to 29 teams and VAR was first introduced to the league first in 2016, and the union has argued replacements do not have the experience or training to officiate matches in place of their referees.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the officials have voted against the tentative agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement reached by the Professional Soccer Referees Association and the Professional Referee Organization,” Major League Soccer executive vice-president of sporting product & competition Nelson Rodriguez said in a statement. “PRO worked for months and addressed all the issues that were raised by PSRA’s bargaining unit. It is also unfortunate that the PSRA rejected PRO’s offer for a mutual no strike - no lockout commitment, which would have allowed all match officials to continue working during ongoing negotiations. PRO has informed us of its contingency plan for the upcoming MLS season, which includes utilizing experienced professional match referees supported by veteran VAR officials. We are confident in the comprehensive plan they have put in place.”
The MLS Players Association issued a statement on 20 February expressing disappointment with the lockout.
“The use of replacement referees will not only negatively impact the quality and results of our matches, it may also jeopardize the health and safety of players,” said the statement. “We urge PRO and MLS to return to the table and bargain in good faith with PSRA to work towards a timely and fair agreement.”