Standoff Over WNBA’s Future Has Dominated Finals
The FBI is looking into the business dealings of the biggest unions in sports.
Following an anonymous whistleblower’s complaints late last year about Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Tony Clark, federal investigators have begun tracing money that came from OneTeam Partners, the group licensing arm founded by the MLBPA and NFLPA that also represents other major unions. News of the investigation was first reported by ESPN on Friday.
Athletes in union leadership have been called by federal investigators, according to multiple reports. OneTeam said in a statement that it is “not the subject of the investigation and has not been accused of any wrongdoing in any way.”
What investigators are looking into, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is whether Clark or any other union leaders have mishandled funds that came from OneTeam. In other words, the FBI is investigating people including Clark who have crossover between OneTeam and the MLBPA, not solely the operations of the union or OneTeam.
Here’s everything you need to know about the situation:
What exactly did the whistleblower allege?
In late November, an anonymous person filed a charge against the union with the National Labor Relations Board alleging self-dealing, nepotism, misuse of union resources, and abuse of power. The whistleblower accused Clark of getting jobs for family members including his daughter and improperly giving them financial benefits, and said the union sent “large delegations to Australia and Las Vegas for non-baseball business.” At the time, the MLBPA called the allegations “baseless” and “entirely without merit.”
What has the MLBPA said?
Original reports said that players had been contacted by the FBI, while the union said it hadn’t heard from investigators. The MLBPA said it has since hired outside counsel “to respond” to the investigation. Interestingly, the union and Clark have contracted different attorneys to represent them.
“The MLBPA has, and will continue to, fully cooperate with law enforcement during this investigation,” a union spokesperson said in a statement.
What is OneTeam Partners, and how does this come back to them?
Founded in 2019, OneTeam Partners is the group licensing arm for the players unions of the MLB, NFL, WNBA, MLS, USWNT, and more. In college, OneTeam is known for negotiating the return of EA Sports College Football (and giving players in the first year back just $600, a copy of the game, and no royalties.) In the pros, OneTeam has earned a reputation for significantly increasing war chests through lucrative group licensing deals, bringing in eight and nine figures of revenue annually for the bigger unions.
OneTeam says that it is cooperating with investigators as they address “allegations related to certain partners,” and that it is not under investigation itself.
Why does the NFLPA keep coming up?
The MLBPA and NFLPA founded OneTeam together. Then, after the whistleblower’s allegations against the MLBPA, the NFLPA decided to run its own investigation into how OneTeam operates with an independent lawyer it has used in the past. That search came back clean, with no evidence of wrongdoing found in OneTeam or the union’s finances, the Journal reported.
The NFLPA says it hasn’t heard from the FBI. That could change at any moment—when ESPN first broke the news Friday, the MLBPA also said it hadn’t been contacted by investigators, and has since changed its tune.
When reached for comment, the NFLPA pointed to a statement it released last week. “We are aware of the investigation and fully prepared to cooperate if the NFLPA is contacted,” the union said.
According to a report by Awful Announcing, NFLPA lawyer Heather McPhee said in an email to the union’s player representative that she and individual players have been contacted by investigators. This could mean the FBI is doing its due diligence across leagues, or it could mean NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell is one of the other people being examined for self-dealing.
Where does it go from here?
The timing of the investigation isn’t ideal for the MLBPA. The union’s collective bargaining agreement with MLB expires on Dec. 1, 2026, and upcoming negotiations would probably be easier without a federal investigation into its highest ranking officer. Clark has led the union since 2013, including through the ‘21–22 lockout. The union does have a “war chest” to financially support star players should the league enter another work stoppage, and while the total is unknown, it’s reportedly even higher than the comfortable amount of reserves in 2021. According to CNBC, players had voted to skip all licensing revenue for 2024 and instead hold onto it case of a work stoppage.
Sources told FOS that the feds were investigating Clark and others who have had crossover between the MLBPA and OneTeam. Two people that could potentially be involved are union COO Xavier James and general counsel and SVP Shawn McDonald, both of whom have held seats on OneTeam’s board since before the whistleblower allegations. Lawyers for MLBPA did not respond to multiple messages requesting comment about their potential involvement, and the union declined comment. The Awful Announcing story suggests that Howell could be under scrutiny as well. According to several reports, current players in union leadership do not appear to be targets.
A spokesperson for the Eastern District of New York, which is running the investigation, declined to comment.
