(Image Source: Major League Baseball)

BY MATT NOONAN

ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT

A new collective bargaining agreement has been reached. No not in the NBA – in Major League Baseball. The new labor deal will reportedly include a long awaited development. CBS has the story:

“Major league baseball and its players are said tonight to have agreed to blood testing for human growth hormone beginning next season. That’s a first for US professional sports leagues.”

Some labor supporters have criticized the MLB Players Association for agreeing to testing without any major concessions from owners. But an NBC Sports blogger says the new testing is a positive for everyone:

“What the union finally figured out — too late, but did figure out — was that there was a serious downside to the public thinking that everyone was on ‘roids. And that that perception was going to eventually translate to lower confidence in the game and ultimately lower revenues … the players giving in on drug testing was actually in their own financial interests.”

In the big money world of professional sports, financial interests usually win out. Yahoo! Sports blogger Jeff Pasan writes -- in this case, both players and owners simply had too much to lose not to come to an agreement.

“Both sides understand there is too much at stake – too many fans, too much good will, too much money. Baseball is a $7 billion industry, more than three times as much as it was during the ’94 strike. Only a fool would slay this golden goose.”

Many have praised baseball for overcoming a long history of labor unrest to complete this collective bargaining agreement with minimal drama. MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal says the turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable.

“Well Brian it’s really interesting how baseball has become the model for labor relations in professional sports. If you remember, and many of us do, there were 8 work stoppages in this sport between 1972 and 95. But in the last two negotiations in particular, things have gone as you said, really smoothly. And that’s because everyone learned their lesson.”

Everyone in baseball may have learned their lesson, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in other sports. CSN Philly blogger John Finger says the NBA should take a hint.

“Once, [NBA] commissioner David Stern ran the best league in the world and one that was the envy of other sports owners. Baseball was the dysfunctional family that created its own problems as a matter of course. Funny how things change.”

HGH testing for Major League Baseball players will begin in 2012 at Spring Training.

Transcript by Newsy.