In what is one of the most popular and profitable sports league in the country, National Football League owners are now less than three weeks away from going on strike and locking out the players. History shows how the balance of power in the collective bargaining agreement has changed in the last 3 decades. The players, feeling unappreciated and underpaid, went on strike during the season in 1982 (57 days) and 1987 (24 days) and then finally had to go to court to gain free agency that came with a salary cap. Now there is a role reversal. The owners say the system has become so out of whack in favor of the players in the last five years that they need to restructure how their revenues are distributed to prevent financial disaster. The current CBA (Collective Bargaining agreement) is set to expire on March 4th and the owners and players are estimated to be about $1 billion apart from an agreement. A lockout can be prevented but the owners and the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) face key issues: The revenue that has climbed to $8.9 Billion annually, 18-game season.
The number one question that is asked:“what in the world are they fighting about?” Money. Plain and simple. The National Football league annual revenue is approximately $9 billion. In the past, the owners have been allowed to set $1 billion aside for expenses and the player’s then received 59.5 percent of the rest. With the rising costs of building, improving and maintaining stadiums, the owners want to set aside an additional billion dollars for themselves.
The owners are not claiming that they’re losing money, but they are saying that if things don’t change, the league could face severe financial problems in the future. Right now, that is the salient point the two sides are fighting over. There are other issues – such as increasing the regular season from 16 to 18 games, or improving retired player’s health benefits – but they can all be worked out once the central issue of the billion dollars is settled.
I had a chance to interview Robert Massey who was a retired 10-year pro bowl NFL player. When I asked him how he feels about the current NFL labor issues and he said “It sucks, the owners have so much money and are not willing to open their check books for the hard work that players produce year in and year out.” Mr. Massey believes that the owners should make a fair split in the estimated $9 Billion revenue simply because the players are their product and they are the ones putting fans in the seats. “As a retired player, I don’t like they way everything is being handled. The NFL stands for “Not For Long,” and if I had to grade the NFL on how they take care of its players, I would give them a “F” for the overall effort to provide better benefits for retired players and injured players.”
There are rumblings that the NFL is looking into the possibility of expanding the season from 16 games to 18 games. This might sound like a luxury to fans, but there are a few good reasons to be wary. For the league, it may not be the best move to put their players through additional punishment in the midst of a controversy over concussions. With an 18-week season, no one will stay healthy. The only way this proposal will come to pass if the NFLPA can get a corresponding increase in salaries across the board, something the owners will never agree to. I asked an athletic coach from Shaw University on his input about an 18 game schedule. He said
“I would only decline the 18-game schedule unless they decrease the current four preseason games to two. In the long run players will begin to wear down because they are asked to punish their bodies for another two games. The increase in games will not give players enough time to rest their bodies in the offseason because they have to begin to prepare for the next season.”
Finally, as owners and players continue to try to hammer out a deal, a lockout is on the horizon and both parties are going to lose money. Fans are going to be very upset if they are not able to watch their favorite teams compete in the 2011 season. I asked a random person who loves to watch NFL games about a possible lockout. He said “It would be devastating to me and to other people across the nation. This is America’s sport and we fans do not deserve this. Without fans there is no stadium, without fans there is no NFL, without fans there will definitely be no income or a thing as a National Football League because we pay to see the games and we pay to have their merchandise. Our money helps the owners to retain their venues and players.”