Last week, a negotiating session between the labor unions and the league was cancelled, and a lockout this spring is looking increasingly likely. In addition, the NFL filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming that the NFL player’s association hasn’t bargained to it’s full capabilities and actually wants to let the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expire on the scheduled March 3rd date.
Frankly, I can’t help but find the whole situation a little appalling, if not disgusting.
The National Football League is arguably the most-watched, and certainly one of the most beloved, sports in America. It is truly America’s game.
The disputes stem over several issues, with the main points being the owner’s desire of a higher cut of the revenue generated by the league, an increase to an 18 game season, and the implementation of a rookie salary cap.
The biggest stalemate seems to be occurring over how to share the league’s revenue. Each year, the NFL generates approximately $9 billion in revenue. Under the current agreement, the owners first receive $1 billion dollars off the top, and the n the players receive 60% of the remaining $8 billion. The union has suggested a 50/50 split of all of the revenue in total, without the owner’s first receiving their cut.
That is more than fair to both sides in this case. The player’s deserve an equal, if not larger, share than the owner’s because of the amount that they give to the game. Kids don’t have posters of Robert Kraft (he owner of the New England Patriots) in their room; they have posters of Tom Brady. In fact, most fans probably don’t know who Kraft, or any other owner’s for that matter, even are. The players are more than deserving of this money, because they literally give their lives to the game (watch an ESPN segment on life after football for guys with 10 concussions…it isn’t promising.)
The players are what make the game, and without them performing at the best there simply is no league.
In addition, the lockout will economically damage many communities such as Green Bay, which are purely football towns and whose local economy relies heavily on the packers. Think of all the stadium workers that would be out of a job.
The players, meanwhile, would also be losing a valuable year of football if a lockout occurs. The average NFL career lasts only 3 and a half years, so a lockout would cost many almost a third of their playing time.
Moving on, the 18 game season idea is just ridiculous. Although I’m in favor of shortening the preseason, leave the regular season alone. Players get hurt enough as it is. If the NFL tries this, in the first year that it exists a big name player will be hurt in one of the newly-added games right before the playoffs, and the public’s outcry would be enough to do in the schedule changes.
One idea of the owner’s that I approve of is the rookie salary cap. Rookies are making outrageous sums of money (last year Mathew Stafford made more than Tom Brady), and something must be done. It’s absurd that they can just make tens of millions of dollars before even proving that they can handle it in the NFL.
So, the owner’s and players are still a ways from agreeing. However, one thing is for sure, and that is with the newly filed lawsuit, neither side was in a loving mood this Valentine’s day.
