If you’re at all familiar with major league sports, you may have noticed a badge on products that work with a league’s players.
The MLB has one that looks like this
This is the logo for the MLB Players Association, a company that works with teams and players to deal with player relations, contracts, brand deals, etc. The MLB isn’t the only league that has this, the NFL has the NFLPA and the NBA has the NBPA. They all do the same thing which is helping players and leagues by dealing with the players only, and it helps the leagues. So, can this help the VGL?
The point of a players association is to ease the amount of work on the league itself by making what is essentially a second company dedicated to players’ relations. This helps the league because they have hundreds of players, about 30 teams all with their staff and owners, and in the case of the MLB, other minor leagues with more players and teams. On top of that, the MLBPA also makes the MLB more money with player brand deals and such. If the VGL were to make a players association, we could hold many players all at once and have more teams with stacked rosters.
We could also expand past one league if we were to make a players association. We could own and operate multiple leagues and events all using the Players Association, and those other leagues could work as a pipeline into the main VGL, similar to the MLB and the MiLB.
The following is a proof of concept. I cannot say that all of the following here will be delivered in the future. This is simply how I believe it will go if we go through with it.
In an ideal world, the VGL would have at least 12 teams and at least 4 lower-level leagues to act as a pipeline to the VGL, all operating under the VGL’s Players Association. The Variety Gaming League Company (maybe under a different name, who knows) would own the VGLPA, the Variety Gaming League, and the various minor leagues, all as subsidiaries. The VGLPA would have an access point called the Variety Gaming League Players and Prospects Access Point (or VGL PPAP for short). From here, anyone can apply to be a player and contact teams about a possible contract. Team management staff can use the PPAP to monitor the players and prospects available, review the terms of active contracts and start a request to edit them, and they can review possible brand deals for their team. Players and Prospects who have been approved to use the PPAP can use it to review the terms of their contracts and start a request to edit them, they can monitor possible other contracts with other teams, leagues, or companies. Players and Prospects do not need an agent to apply or use the PPAP but if they do have one, their agent can also use it to monitor everything for them. Importantly, Agents are not allowed to make any changes or request any changes without a Player’s or Prospect’s permission, granted through the PPAP.
To being the process using the PPAP, a user must be over 16 years of age and would have to make an account using a verified phone number (no VoIP), an email which will be verified, a government official form of identification, and an address with proof of address.
For players or prospects, once all is submitted, they will be interviewed either online or in person to find “Proof of Skill” or “Proof of Passion”. This is to act as a filter for those who truly want to be involved with the cause. Once the interview is complete, the player or prospect will be reviewed for eligibility by a council of staff including the owner(s) at the time of the interview, any founding member that is not an active player, the staff who conducted the interview, and me, the founder.
For Agents, once all are submitted they will be interviewed in-person or online by the legal team from the VGLPA to show “Proof of Affiliation”. This can include anything but it must include the legally binding contract for each player and prospect you claim affiliation for. This contract cannot be a group contract, there must be a contract for each player or prospect. You must also include a video statement from the player or prospect you are claiming that states you are the agent of the player or prospect. This may be superseded if the player or prospect is present in the interview and makes the statement live. At the end of the interview, the agent will either be approved or denied. If the agent is denied access, they must wait until the end of the season to reapply for access. An agent may only apply 3 times for access. If they are declined on the 3rd attempt, they will be blacklisted by the VGL and will not be allowed to work with any active player. If they attempt to affiliate themself with an active player, the player will be removed from the active players list and will be placed on a season-long suspension. If a player is caught 3 times, they will be terminated and blacklisted from the VGLPA and may not reapply to play for their lifetime. If a prospect is affiliated with a blacklisted agent, they will not be allowed to sign with any team in any VGLPA-affiliated league until the contract is terminated or expired. If they extend or resign with the blacklisted agent, the prospect will be blacklisted from the VGLPA for their lifetime. If a player or prospect is in the VGLPA and affiliated with a blacklisted agent before their blacklisting, they will be 30 days to cut ties with the agent if their contract allows it, if not, they will be allowed to remain with the agent only for the duration of the current contract and they may not be allowed to sign or modify any existing contract through the VGLPA or the VGL PPAP.
Once access is given to a Player, Prospect, Team, or Agent for the PPAP, the only way to sign in is with a preprogrammed physical USB Security Key hand-delivered from a VGL employee. This is to ensure maximum security in the VGL PPAP.
Proof of Concept has concluded
Just imagine how much we could help others by having systems like this to streamline the legal process of the VGL. Even though this is only an idea, simply a thought of how this system would go, It makes you see just how big the VGL could be if given the right resources and effort. That’s all I could say about this for now. Let’s hope that ideas like this become a reality for us in the future.
