Sports labor markets seem pretty screwed up overall, partly because it's a very strange market. Are teams in competition with each other? Or is the league one entity, in competition with other leagues and even other sports?
Some other sports-employment models, broken in different ways:
1. The owner-collusion model. A league is exempted from anti-trust laws, and the owners get together to institute rules. There's a draft, and new players can't be hired except via the draft. There is no free agency, or limited, owner-supervised free agency. Basically the "market" is you either do whatever the system tells you, or you leave the league entirely. Most new sports leagues being set up follow this model (e.g. Major League Soccer).
2. The contracts-ban-free-agency model. There's no draft, and you can sign with any team you want. However, the owners have officially or unofficially standardized on an employment contract that requires you to get your team's permission before signing on with any other team, even after your contract expires. Basically a noncompete clause. This is more or less how European club football worked prior to the EU's Bosman ruling invalidating that variety of noncompete (among other things).
Some other sports-employment models, broken in different ways:
1. The owner-collusion model. A league is exempted from anti-trust laws, and the owners get together to institute rules. There's a draft, and new players can't be hired except via the draft. There is no free agency, or limited, owner-supervised free agency. Basically the "market" is you either do whatever the system tells you, or you leave the league entirely. Most new sports leagues being set up follow this model (e.g. Major League Soccer).
2. The contracts-ban-free-agency model. There's no draft, and you can sign with any team you want. However, the owners have officially or unofficially standardized on an employment contract that requires you to get your team's permission before signing on with any other team, even after your contract expires. Basically a noncompete clause. This is more or less how European club football worked prior to the EU's Bosman ruling invalidating that variety of noncompete (among other things).