The NFL Labor negotiations between the players and owners have progressed this week with seemingly no movement at all after both sides agreed to extend the deadline by a week. The only news that has come out of the negotiations this week is that the proposal for an 18 game NFL schedule is off the table, and that the players rejected the financial information provided to them by the owners as insufficient to make a decision on what they should give up.
The average fan probably has a tough time figuring out what all of this means, but it’s actually quite simple. In the current deal the players take 60% of the current revenues, and the owners take about 40% of the revenues. The owners are asking to reverse those numbers, and to make it even simpler they want the players to contribute $1 billion dollars of the revenues before they start splitting it up. The owners say this money will be to build stadiums and expenses rather than fighting for public funding all the time. The owners have since lowered that number saying that the players can contribute $800 million, but the NFLPA scoffed at that offer as well.
What it boils down to is the owners want to make more money by making the players take a pay cut and forcing them to play two more games without additional compensation. It would
be like your boss asking you to work one more day each week without paying you over time or any additional money; it’s a losing proposition for the players if they agree to either. The players have asked to look at the finances of every NFL team and if they feel the owners need the money they would agree to it, but apparently the owners have not been inclined to provide information to the level the players want.
Fans are split over the issue, but on radio shows and internet message boards fans are blaming both sides for the potential to ruin the 2011 football season. Fans just want football and they don’t really care all that much about the specifics of who gets paid what, but in all honesty fans should care. The players put their body on the line every week, and sure the owners have expenses, but the NFL has $9 billion in revenues locked in each year. I would hardly say the owners are taking that much of a risk, if they manage the finances properly they should clear a profit every year. Players on the other hand can be cut at any time without getting paid the rest of their contract unless it is guaranteed, so while people talk about the big contracts of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and others they have to realize most players don’t make that kind of money.
It appears this situation is going to be headed to the courts because the NFLPA will de-certify as a union, which will allow them to sue the NFL under Anti-Trust litigation. That is all it means if the union de-certifies then you will basically have players like Peyton Manning and other stars suing the NFL individually in a court of law. That is the players best weapon, and exactly what the owners do not want to happen, but the players have to make that decision by 5:00pm on Friday 3/11 otherwise they lose that as an option. Of course another extension could be worked out, but that does not seem likely at this point. Be prepared for the worst case scenario of missing NFL games in the fall unless something miraculous happens.
