프로스포츠선수 계약의 법적 성질에 대한 논의 - 프로야구 선수계약을 중심으로 -

Abstract

Since the beginning of Korean professional baseball and soccer leagues in 1982, the sports industry has been developed relatively successfully. With the development of professional sports leagues, the issue of the player contract has greatly arisen in the sports industry. Under the current Korean Civil Code, a professional sports player contract tends to be viewed as an employment contract, a subcontract, or a delegation contract. Many scholars tend to argue that professional sports player contracts have nature of an employment contract which may include elements of “the special employment relation” to which Civil code and Labor Standards Act are applied simultaneously. At the same time, many countries classify a professional sports player contract as an employment contract. However, in some countries. there have been some controversies with regard to transfer fees which may limit free movement of players, considering the exclusive nature of a contract between a professional sports club and a player, In Korea, a professional baseball player contract is concluded in accordance with Standard Player Contract (unified contract) set forth in the baseball protocol of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) which was not friendly to consider the contracts as an employment contract. In this regard, reviewing the laws, cases and discussions in Korea and other countries about the nature of the player contracts may be te first step towards mutually satisfactory contractual relationship through reasonable player contracts.