Sports is a trillion-dollar industry.
But sports aren’t just games – they’re workplaces.
Sports Solidarity with Harry Marino goes behind the scenes of one of the world’s most visible industries to explore the growing power of labor in pro sports.
Harry is an attorney and former professional baseball player who led the unionization of Minor League Baseball and has since led landmark collective bargaining negotiations across the sports industry.
From locker rooms to bargaining tables, this podcast tells the real story of how athletes, organizers, and unions are reshaping the future of sports.
Inside the Room: David Foster on the NBPA and the Future of College Sports
David Foster has spent the last decade representing athletes. He left a career as a prosecutor to give players the same power as the people across the table.
Foster served nearly 10 years as Deputy General Counsel for the National Basketball Players Association. When NBA players backed their G League counterparts, he became the first executive director of the G League players' union. Today, he sits on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
Host Harry Marino sits down with Foster to discuss how NBA players helped organize the G League, what players taught him about life as a professional athlete, and why he believes college athletes deserve the same right to bargain as any other worker.
Chapters
00:00 The Prosecutor’s Path to Sports Labor
04:44 How the G League Union Was Born
09:49 Why the NBA Embraces Unions
15:16 The Human Side of Collective Bargaining
23:01 The 500-Page CBA: Why Details Matter
30:49 NBA Stars as Union Leaders
36:12 The Knight Commission and College Sports Chaos
38:30 NIL, Transfer Portals, and the “Sky is Falling” Crowd
45:59 Why Universities Resist the Solution That Works
9 Sept 2026
Organizing the Most Thankless Job in Sports
Referees and officials have one of the toughest jobs in sports. Perfection is the expectation, and the blame comes the moment something goes wrong. Over the last decade, they've unionized rapidly.
Lucas Middlebrook has been at the center of that shift. He's counsel to the National Basketball Referees Association and the Professional Soccer Referees Association, work that started with NBA referees some 15 years ago. Since then, he's helped officials across the WNBA, G League, Major League Soccer, National Women's Soccer League, and United Soccer League organize and win contracts.
Host Harry Marino sits down with Middlebrook to discuss what it takes to organize an entire occupation, why the best negotiators lean on relationships instead of pounding the table, and why the hardest organizing fights, like combat sports, are still ahead.
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:21 From Airline Law to Sports Labor
4:43 Building a Union From Scratch
8:19 A Landslide at the Ballot Box
10:15 One Union, Three Leagues
14:56 The NBA Says Yes Without a Fight
25:43 30 Days Locked Out
28:06 The FIFA Loophole
35:28 What Makes a Great Negotiator
41:13 Advocacy Meets Pragmatism
44:15 Why Combat Sports Are Harder to Organize
51:02 Two Roads to a UFC Union
54:20 The Jake Paul Factor
1:03:09 The Antitrust Irony
Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: MBKH61INVJU2VYUJ
20 Aug 2026
Combat Athletes Assistance Network (C.A.A.N): The Dawn of an Organizing Drive
Professional boxing is one of the oldest sports in human history. It's also one where the athletes are the least protected. Fighters are treated as independent contractors, which strips them of basic employee rights and the ability to unionize. Their share of the sport's revenue sits around 10 percent. In baseball, football, and basketball, where athletes have unions, that number is closer to 50.
Ernie DiStefano and Peter Olney are working to change that. They aren't chasing a headline or a big-bang announcement. They're getting into the gyms and meeting fighters where they are.
C.A.A.N builds a base one athlete at a time, offering vocational placement, contract review, financial literacy, and treatment referrals. The goal is to give fighters options and leverage they've never had.
Host Harry Marino goes behind the scenes with DiStefano and Olney to talk about what it takes to start something in one of the toughest spaces in all of sports, when victory is anything but assured.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
www.caangroup.org (http://www.caangroup.org)
H.R.4624 - Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act of 2026 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4624)
To donate: caangroup.org/donate (https://www.caangroup.org/donate)
Chapters
00:00:00 - Introduction
01:37 - The CAAN Origin Story
06:13 - Nobody Speaks for Boxers
10:51 - The Independent Contractor Lie
12:50 - Build the Base First
14:09 - What CAAN Actually Does
16:39 - Peter's 50 Years on the Line
22:28 - The Hard Part of Organizing
24:04 - Who the Ali Act Really Helps
28:28 - What It Takes to Win
34:37 - Why Ernie Fights: A Ripple of Hope
37:13 - Why Peter Fights
39:27 - The George Foreman Gala
40:40 - Closing
30 Jul 2026
United States Rugby Players Association (USRPA): A Win-Win Deal During a Difficult Moment
Major League Rugby just came through the hardest offseason in its history, losing nearly half its teams. In that exact moment, the players did something remarkable: they came together and ratified the first collective bargaining agreement in U.S. rugby history. The deal prioritizes rights and standards over headline dollars and includes an economic reopener that gives both the players and the league flexibility to respond to the league’s changing financial conditions. It is a foundation, not a finish line.
Host Harry Marino talks with Chris Mattina, Executive Director of the U.S. Rugby Players Association, about how the deal got done. This wasn't a showdown. Players and the league both understood the sport's future depended on getting it done together, and they bargained collaboratively with an eye toward growth. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how players won a seat at the table and a first contract.
Chapters:
00:00 - The Need for Player Protection
03:19 - Rugby Background and Culture
06:44 - The Unique Rugby Culture
09:43 - Path to Union Leadership
15:20 - The Recognition Campaign
23:38 - Negotiating Through Crisis
25:58 - Collaborative Bargaining Approach
30:26 - Player Solidarity
34:50 - CBA Victories
43:22 - Rugby's American Future
Music licensed through Soundstripe.
Code: CO513I6FX4TBZ9AL
13 Jul 2026
SoFi Stadium Workers: A Case Study in Identifying Member Priorities and Maximizing Leverage
A week before the World Cup arrived at SoFi Stadium, roughly 2,000 bartenders, servers, cooks, and dishwashers represented by UNITE HERE Local 11 voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Days later, they won a new contract: raises of up to 30 percent, stronger workplace protections, and a unique provision giving workers the right to strike if ICE or Border Patrol activity at the stadium poses a threat to their safety. And perhaps most importantly, the contract will expire on April 30, 2028, aligning with over 100 other stadium, hotel, and airport concessions contracts that expire before the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Host Harry Marino talks with Local 11 Co-President Kurt Petersen about how the union identified the World Cup as a moment of maximum leverage and secured top priorities for membership. Get a behind-the-scenes look into a masterclass in labor negotiating.
Chapters:
00:06 - Introduction
02:45 - Local 11’s decision to focus on ICE
09:08 - Mega-event leverage strategy
12:16 - 2028 Olympic strategy
18:59 - Cross-union coordination
21:54 - Sports worker solidarity
26:26 - The button
28:11 - Conclusion
23 Jun 2026
A rare inside look at how U.S. soccer players organized for better pay
It's hard to envision a time before soccer was big business in the United States. But until a few decades ago, U.S. national team players weren't even paid and had little say over their travel or working conditions.
That's where Mark Levinstein comes in. Mark is a legendary sports lawyer who has represented USMNT players as head of the U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association since it formed in the mid-1990s. Today, players receive 80% of the World Cup prize money. Mark has been at the table every step of the way.
In this episode, Mark joins Harry for a rare public conversation to share the inside story of this union, from its fledgling days in the '90s to the bright lights of the World Cup today. He also gives a behind-the-scenes peek at how the USMNT players helped the women's team secure equal pay and offers some thoughts on a range of other issues, including the possibility of collective bargaining at the college level and his charity Athletes for Hope.
Resources
USSoccerPlayers.com (http://ussoccerplayers.com)
AthletesForHope.org (http://athletesforhope.org/)
HBO’s US Against the World (https://www.hbomax.com/shows/us-against-the-world-four-years-with-the-mens-national-soccer-team/b38fe8cf-5908-43b1-9655-71f67ddf3eac)
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
01:30 - World Cup Revenue Sharing
08:12 - Origins of USNSTPA
16:45 - First Collective Bargaining Agreement
21:21 - Equal Pay Negotiations
30:02 - How the Men's Team Backed the Women's Equal Pay Fight
36:48 - Revenue Sharing Breakthrough
46:42 - Future of Equal Pay
49:41 - The Principles That Built a Union
56:25 - How the USNSTPA Actually Works
01:00:00 - Evolution of the Sports Industry
01:11:52 - College Sports at a Crossroads
01:22:02 - Athletes for Hope
01:30:47 - Closing Remarks
9 Jun 2026
How UFL Players Won Better Pay, Health Care, and a Voice at Work
In this episode, Harry sits down with UFL player-leaders Kenneth Farrow II, Jack Kramer, and Kedrick Whitehead Jr. to discuss how players came together to build the United Football Players Association and negotiate a historic collective bargaining agreement.
Before organizing, players faced inadequate health coverage and little say in the conditions affecting their careers. Instead of accepting the status quo, they built a union.
What started as isolated conversations in the locker room grew into a league-wide effort — and the first CBA in UFL history. How did they do it?
In this episode, the organizers share a behind-the-scenes look at the campaign and the wins that followed.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:04 Building the United Football Players Association
07:18 Life Before the CBA
10:57 Bringing Players Together
13:38 Negotiating the First CBA in UFL History
17:37 The Player-Centered Bargaining Philosophy
20:14 Building Unity During Negotiations
22:35 The Health Care Holdout That Extended Negotiations
24:08 What's Next for the UFPA
37:43 Advice for Working People
42:37 Closing Remarks
20 May 2026
Is Congress About to Lock In the NCAA’s Power?
In this episode of Sports Solidarity, host Harry Marino is joined by Brandon Copeland, co-founder and CEO of Athletes.org and former NFL linebacker, and Casey Floyd, co-founder of DYK Media, for a timely conversation on Washington’s continued push to reshape college athletics.
The NCAA-backed SCORE Act was pulled from this week’s House agenda, but the broader effort toward federal intervention in college sports remains active. Casey and Brandon break down what’s still in motion in Congress and what it could mean for athlete rights, compensation, and the ability to organize and challenge NCAA rules.
The discussion focuses on how proposed federal frameworks could shift power further toward institutions while limiting athlete leverage, legal recourse, and representation in policymaking. They also dig into ongoing debates around antitrust protections, transfer restrictions, health and safety, and labor rights.
Casey and Brandon highlight the continued absence of athlete voices in key policy conversations and warn that the possibility of federal involvement raises major questions about the future structure of college sports.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction
01:29 – Big 12 commissioner’s position on SCORE Act
04:02 – Guest introductions
04:35 – SCORE Act deep dive with Casey Floyd
08:38 – How likely is the SCORE Act to pass?
13:18 – Health and safety concerns
16:54 – NFL vs. NCAA safety protocols
18:03 – Professional sports comparison
20:09 – NCAA’s strategic approach
23:56 – House settlement
29:22 – Collective bargaining benefits
30:39 – Athletes.org
36:44 – Historical context and current reality
39:42 – Conclusion
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Athletes.org (https://www.athletes.org/)
Read AO's SCORE Act Open Letter (https://www.athletes.org/news/the-score-act-only-hurts-athletes-and-cannot-pass-an-open-letter-to-congress-from-the-members-of-athletes-org/)
DYK Media (https://www.dykmedia.io/)
Fort Lewis’ first student-athlete, Ray Dennison, killed playing football, echoes through NCAA history (https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/fort-lewis-first-student-athlete/)
5 May 2026
5,500 Players, One Union: Inside the Fight to Unionize Minor League Baseball
The first episode of Sports Solidarity with Harry Marino goes inside the historic effort to unionize Minor League Baseball.
Harry Marino is joined by Joe Hudson, Jose Brizuela, and Brandon Withers, three player leaders who helped drive the campaign to organize thousands of minor leaguers.
They share what life was like before the union, how organizing took shape across clubhouses, and how players turned difficult conditions into a successful nationwide movement.
This is the story of how it happened, what it took to win, and what changed afterward.
Resources mentioned in this episode: sportssolidarity.org (https://www.sportssolidarity.org/)
Listen, rate, and subscribe! Stories of players fighting for fair pay and rights in sports.
Timestamps:
[00:03:42] - The Shocking Reality of Minor League Life
[00:04:27] - The Fyre Festival Sandwich Moment
[00:17:26] - The Housing Victory That Changed Everything
[00:22:34] - The Chaotic Union Card Drive
[00:25:41] - Overcoming Fear and Building Momentum
[00:29:33] - The Courage of Latino Players
[00:36:16] - Life After the Union: Dramatic Improvements
28 Apr 2026
Welcome to Sports Solidarity with Harry Marino
Sports is a trillion-dollar industry.
But sports aren’t just games – they’re workplaces.
Sports Solidarity with Harry Marino goes behind the scenes of one of the most visible and powerful industries in the world.
The show is hosted by Harry, an attorney and former professional baseball player who led the unionization of Minor League Baseball and has since led landmark collective bargaining negotiations across the sports industry.
Each episode takes you inside locker rooms, union halls, and boardrooms to hear real stories from the people who have lived them. From athletes to organizers to industry insiders, Sports Solidarity examines how labor, power, and money collide in professional sports.
If you care about sports, labor, or the future of work, listen in to hear the conversations happening behind the scenes.
The first episode drops on Tuesday, May 5th. Follow and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
SportsSolidarity.com (http://sportssolidarity.com)
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