During the buildup to the lockout, the two sides spent months trying to iron out long-standing disagreements over free agency and arbitration; following arbitrator determinations that the owners had colluded in suppressing player wages in the mid-1980s, with a more open labor market player remuneration had rapidly increased.
In the process, there would be a stipulation put in place that teams reaching the said cap could make no more free agent signings or salary increases.
They cited rising attendance figures as well as solid television contracts with CBS and ESPN.
Although revenue sharing of this type had worked considerably well in the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) Executive Director Donald Fehr, feared that a salary cap would restrict the number of choices free agents could make.
Players were concerned that the owners were trying to limit free agency and had been engaged in long term preparations for a dispute.