The MLB Lockout Now Runs on Private Equity
Today’s guest columnist is Chris Koras, partner and head of sports at Working Capital Partners. In December 2022, I flew to the Dominican Republic to break a year-long contract stalemate. Our firm represented Rafael Devers. The Boston Red Sox had sent ownership and front-office executives to settle the negotiation directly with the player, hoping relationship […]
Chris Koras, a partner at Working Capital Partners, recounted his experience negotiating a contract for client Rafael Devers with the Boston Red Sox in December 2022. According to Koras, the Red Sox had sent ownership and front-office executives to negotiate directly with Devers in the Dominican Republic, but the talks stalled.
Koras' firm ultimately ended the negotiation in writing, allowing Devers to play the upcoming season and enter free agency. Days later, the Red Sox agreed to a record $331 million deal with Devers, reportedly due to the threat of losing him as a free agent.
Koras noted that while individual superstars like Devers can force a club's hand in isolated free-agency negotiations, the landscape for league-wide labor disputes has changed. He attributed this shift to ownership building a "systemic financial wall" over the past three years, designed to neutralize the leverage of an entire union, according to Yahoo Sports.
Brief written by urgent.news from Sportico, Yahoo Sports — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- The MLB Lockout Now Runs on Private Equity sports.yahoo.com
