> Footballers first unionized in 1907 and haven't looked back since
Incorrect, the first footballer's union was from 1898 [1].
> I don't think unionization had any effect on their salaries
Despite the existence of the union, clubs could impose a salary cap on players well into the 1960s, and could trade them like slaves under the "retain-and-transfer" system [2] until the EU forbade that practice in the 1990s [3].
All in all, football is a very bad example for the success of unions. Unions helped jack shit to get players out of an exploitative situation - every improvement was hard-won in courts by individual footballers.
The NBPA has overseen a huge increase in NBA player's wages over the past few decades, both at the top and for the average or minimum player. Yes, there's a salary cap, but that actually helps the vast majority of players, because otherwise Lebron would get paid 200M/year and the minimum/average players would get basically nothing, and it also ensures competitiveness.
A salary cap is not a reason unions are bad when the salary cap is 800x the average person's income...
> and could trade them like slaves under the "retain-and-transfer"
Don't you see a little bit of an issue with this wording? Namely that said players were paid for their labor and could quit playing football at any time?
Incorrect, the first footballer's union was from 1898 [1].
> I don't think unionization had any effect on their salaries
Despite the existence of the union, clubs could impose a salary cap on players well into the 1960s, and could trade them like slaves under the "retain-and-transfer" system [2] until the EU forbade that practice in the 1990s [3].
All in all, football is a very bad example for the success of unions. Unions helped jack shit to get players out of an exploitative situation - every improvement was hard-won in courts by individual footballers.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_Footballers%27_Uni...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retain_and_transfer_system
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosman_ruling