Over the past couple of years there have been crises in professional sports, with the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreements in Football, Basketball and Baseball and with lockouts and litigation taking the place of games in the headlines. The presenter, the Chair of the Sports Business faculty at New York University and a former sports agent and sports law expert explains why this year has been so different both practically and legally speaking. In something of a paradoxical situation, based on court interpretation, labor unions in sports are critically important not only to their members but also to the leagues in which the operate, providing a large amount of the antitrust protection the leagues, which are almost always monopolies need to operate effectively. As a result, "the rules of the game" in modern professional sports are shaped by a tug of war between competing principles of labor and antitrust law and the things sports fans love and talk about regarding the business of the game: drafts; free agency; salary caps; player movement all are either permitted by or prohibited by this conflict. If you have wondered why the NFL locked out its players or why the NBA may not hold a season at all this course is for you.