Every major sport has expanded its calendar over the past decade, adding fixtures, tournaments and territories. The revenue case is straightforward. The physiological case is not.
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Injury audits consistently link congested schedules and long-haul travel to soft-tissue injuries, and the players affected are disproportionately the ones spectators pay to see.
Player unions have moved from complaint to litigation and collective bargaining, which changes the calculation for governing bodies used to setting schedules unilaterally.
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The likely settlement is a cap of some kind on minutes or appearances. What remains contested is who absorbs the lost revenue.
