Union and League far apart

Saturday, February 12 2011

So, who are you rooting for in this fight of millionaires vs. billionaires? This article was written by Gary Myers and appeared in The New York Daily News.

Do you go with the 1,900 players? Back in 1982, their motto was "We Are The Game," but they came crawling back and ended their 57-day strike. They are still the game - nobody comes to see Jerry Jones pacing the sidelines - and they take the physical risk.

How about the 32 owners? They take the financial risk or whatever risk there is when the business is generating $8.9 billion a year in revenue.

There are plenty of legitimate issues here: player safety and health, retired player benefits, a rookie salary cap that will control the ridiculous amount of money going to unproven players, Roger Goodell's controversial plan for an 18-game season.

But it all comes down to one thing: finding a way to split the $8.9 billion. The owners already are allowed to take $1 billion off the top before the players get their nearly 60% share. Now the owners want to take another $1 billion off the top.

The lockout clock is ticking pretty fast. The new league year is supposed to start three weeks from Friday. But at 12:01 a.m. March 4, the collective bargaining agreement expires. Unless there is a deal (unlikely) or enough progress to stop the clock (not so likely), there will be a lockout (very likely).

There is nothing that turns off fans more quickly and more completely than a labor dispute.

The problem is the extra $1 billion per year - the money the owners want to keep to grow the game, which they say will ultimately benefit the players when new cash-cow stadiums and other revenue-producing ideas suddenly appear. Making up ground on that $1 billion difference in the next three weeks will be tougher than the Eagles wiping out that 21-point deficit against the Giants.

It's not a good sign so little progress was made at this week's negotiations in Washington. It was supposed to be two days, but Wednesday's meeting was cut short and Thursday's session was canceled. Goodell also canceled Tuesday's owners meeting in Philadelphia, and no new meetings are planned with the union.

Uh-oh.

The meetings this week broke up over how to split the money. Clearly, there is a compromise in here somewhere, but first there is a game of chicken that must be played. The union wants financial transparency from the league to back up the necessity for the players to take a paycut. The league says the union has all the financial information it needs.

The sense of urgency to avoid a lockout begins March 1. The next sense of urgency isn't until Aug. 1, when training camps need to open in order for the season to start on time.
Would there be anything dumber than the most popular sport in the world having a regular-season work stoppage?

A lockout in the offseason will cause enough problems. In effect, the owners are going on strike. If this wipes out any regular-season games, then it will be maybe the lowest point in NFL history.

This has always been a deadline league. So let's see how this plays out over the next few weeks.

But if the lockout hits, there will be plenty of ramifications:

The record 495 players (25% of the league) scheduled to be unrestricted free agents on March 4 - for many the one time in their career to cash in - will be in limbo, men without teams. During a lockout, no business between players and clubs can be conducted. "I'm sure there is some angst for those guys," one source close to the negotiations said Thursday.

The offseason programs, which usually start in late March, will be canceled. Same with minicamps and OTAs. The eight new coaches, who need to implement their new programs, won't have any players around to coach.

The NFL will stop paying the premiums on the players' health insurance policies. This does not mean they will be without insurance. They can continue their coverage through COBRA and pay the premiums themselves, estimated anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 per month.

Here's what the NFL said it will lose in revenue if there is a lockout: $120 million in March, the cumulative figure grows to $350 million in August and $1 billion if the lockout ends right before the season. Then it's another $400 million per week in lost revenue once the regular season starts.
When the owners and players met Saturday in Dallas, there was some optimism that they were making progress on concepts. On Monday, Goodell said, "The most important thing is you're talking and you're communicating."

Not any more. Not right now.

The NFL didn't like the doomsday reports coming out of this week's get-together. "Despite the inaccurate characterizations of (Wednesday's) meeting, out of respect to the collective bargaining process and our negotiating partner, we are going to continue to conduct negotiations with the union in private and not engage in a point-counterpoint on the specifics of either side's proposals or the meeting process," the league said in a statement. "Instead, we will work as hard as possible to reach a fair agreement by March 4. We are fully focused on that goal."

Millionaires vs. billionaires. What a fight.