A Study on the Legal Impact of Sports Leagues Invoking Force Majeure

The professional sports industry was humming along in the first quarter of 2020. However, a force majeure due to the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the sports world in March and no one knows when things will get back to normal. Although this force majeure will affect almost every industry, the high public exposure and the extraordinary salaries of the players will bring the sports industry into the spotlight. Different professional leagues and players will all be acutely impacted. This study tries to understand the impact of the force majeure clauses in the players’ contracts and seeks to find any issues and improvements concerning the contracts. Many countries with professional sports leagues have collective bargaining agreements between the leagues and the players. Incorporated into the contracts arising from the collective bargaining agreements are force majeure clauses which usually do not receive much attention but have certainly gained traction in the pandemic era. The study will analyze and discuss whether the force majeure clause is the most appropriate model in creating a balance between the leagues and the players and whether alternative method would be preferred. I will research the history of the doctine of force majeure and how it legally impacts the sports leagues. Next, I will examine force majeure clauses and their typical elements. Third, I will discuss whether there are any other alternative methods other than force majeure clauses to help the sport leagues. Furthermore, I will talk about the four sports leagues and organization that could have legally invoked the force majeure clause due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The positive and negative legal impacts of the force majeure clause will be discussed. 줄이기