to retain more of their young players because free agency opportunities would be more limited (Staudohar). Although negotiations began in November 1989, nothing much happened until February 1990, shortly before spring training was to begin. At that time, Commissioner Fay Vincent began to sit in on negotiations. He made some formal proposals that were released to the media, and this had the effect of causing the owners to drop their demands for radical change, including the salary cap. A 32-day lockout by the owners ensued, with the main issue in the dispute being salary arbitration eligibility.
             The 4-year collective bargaining agreement that was agreed upon after the 32 day lock out expired on December 31, 1993. A year earlier the owners had reopened the contract for negotiations on salaries and the free agency system, but no real proposals were made by either side. Baseball, as other sports, has its big market and small-market teams and economic disparities between clubs. Baseball teams share money from the sale of national broadcast rights equally, but they keep all sales from local broadcast rights. The New York Yankees in a typical year receive about $50 million from local television broadcasters, while some of the small-market teams get just a few million dollars for their rights (Abrams). As a result, the owners decided to share some of their local revenues. After a 28-0 vote among the owners, they agreed to share revenue only if the players accept a salary cap. The problem with this was that because the owners linked their revenue sharing with a salary cap, the players felt they were being asked to solve the owners' financial disparity problem. The owners proposed a 7-year contract that would split their total revenue with the players, 50-50, while introducing a salary cap over the next four years (Abrams).
             The proposal also eliminated salary arbitration, but allowed players with 4 to 6 years of major league s...