# Without a CBA in place, is the NFL draft illegal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-a-cba-in-place-is-the-nfl-draft-illegal/575376>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 20, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-a-cba-in-place-is-the-nfl-draft-illegal/575376 "2011-03-20T18:00:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-a-cba-in-place-is-the-nfl-draft-illegal/575376/1 "2011-03-20T18:00:04Z")

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IAAL but not a labor lawyer or an antitrust lawyer. It is my understanding though, that the NFL draft is only legal because it was agreed to as part of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the players union.

Two questions:  
(1) Is the NFL draft only legal because it is part of a CBA?: and  
(2) Without a CBA being in place, can the NFL lawfully conduct a draft in 2011?  
If the mods want to move this thread to the GameRoom, that is fine by me.

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/without-a-cba-in-place-is-the-nfl-draft-illegal/575376/2 "2011-03-20T19:41:38Z")

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There’s a thread currently in the Game Room on the CBA and the lockout. In it, someone ( **Hamlet** , I believe) pointed out that there was a clause in the now-expired CBA allowing for a college draft in 2011, even with no CBA in place.