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Arbitration

The Arbitration Battle: Advatange – Team

We're talkin' millions

100 baseball players entered the arbitration season, and the average salary obtained after the hearings (or after a deal was brokered before a hearing took place) is $2.5 million. While that number may not seem too shabby, the trend since 2004 is that arbitration verdicts (or prior settlements) are decreasing in monitary value yearly. In 2004, $3.26 million was the average and in 2005, the average was $2.8 million.

Average Salary after Arbitration
2006 – $2.5 million
2005 – $2.8 million
2004 – $3.26 million

Even though the numbers are decreasing, players who enter arbitration are still gaining a 108% average increase in salary after the verdict (or settlement). This is also a significant drop in percentage when compared to 2005 and 2004.

Percent Increase in Salary after Arbitration
2006 – 108%
2005 – 123%
2004 – 126%

In 2006, only 6 players actually followed through with the arbitration process instead of brokering a deal with the Major League team before the suit took place. Of those 6 players, only 2 of them (Kyle Lohse and Emil Brown) won the Final Offer Arbitration hearing.

Less and less players are going to arbitration, which may be a sign that as an Agent, you may want to do everything in your power to create the best deal for your client before the hearing, if at all possible.

As a USAToday article points out, owners have won 269 of the 469 arbitration cases since 1974.

[tags]arbitration, mlb, lohse, brown, salary[/tags]

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

One reply on “The Arbitration Battle: Advatange – Team”

[…] In a post made almost exactly a year ago I looked specifically at arbitration in Major League Baseball [The Arbitration Battle: Advantage – Team]. The observations that I made last year seem to be on course again this year. When an arbitration case is actually heard, owners have an advantage (they are 4-1 so far this year). There are also a lot of negative consequences that may come along with following through with a hearing instead of settling before-hand [Arbitration…good or bad?]. […]

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