The labor issues in the NFL have been well-documented.
In 2008, the league opted out of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) causing 2009 to be the last capped year and, in 2010, no salary cap. If no new agreement can be reached by the start of the 2011 season, there won't be football.
It's a major battle that, for the most part, has been played in the media. Apparently, the two sides aren't talking much and even when they do, you get things like this:
"At this point, we are as far apart as I could imagine," Batterman told the Hofstra Chronicle in a recent interview.
Batterman is Bob Batterman, one of the NFL's lawyers brought in for these labor talks. Batterman's name is familiar because he represented the NHL during the longest work stoppage in sports history. Some have nicknamed him the "lockout lawyer".
The two sides have already committed to the uncapped year in 2010. There will also be a draft in 2011.
After that, it's up in the air.
Nothing can be done until the two sides sit down for an extended period of time and hash out the issues. Judging by Batterman's words, they have a lot of work to do.
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Man,
They had better get this worked out. I would hate to see another strike-shortened season. It would sour my idealistic love of the game.
Players need to get paid, they have a short career-span.
Players who do not perform should have no leverage or future compensation when being cut, that means paying back prorated signing bonuses also. Only medical benefits, or disability, for catastrophic injuries suffered while playing for the NFL.
Anyone who says negative stuff on this board may as well be an Eagirls fan...
by BlueNSilverBlood on May 10, 2010 11:39 AM EDT reply actions
This just sounds like more rhetoric directed at the players to try to manipulate them
They really need to get a third party to come up with some options and solutions. There’s more than enough money to go around and there’s no reason an agreement can’t be reached that’s fair to both sides.
by admill on May 10, 2010 12:46 PM EDT reply actions
owners dont care
They get their tv money no matter what
Mountain West Connection
by Jeremy Mauss on May 10, 2010 12:52 PM EDT reply actions
Really? .......No matter if there's not a game to show??
That seems like an absurd deal on the advertisers part…enough to make them livid mad!!
And renegotiating a MUCH tighter/tougher TV agreement next time around. Also, this owner’s plan of getting paid will not go over to well with the fans and may even hurt the owners in ways they cannot foresee.
Maybe the NFLPA gets together and forms their OWN teams & league!! Investors would line up and they’d have a TV deal in a heartbeat…then we could watch that instead of SCABS playing for the NFL like in 1987.
http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/rr197/warengine2008/Signature_Futility.jpg
by SunTzu_vs_Camus on May 10, 2010 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions
They will have game if there is a lock out much like in 87.
The players could bolt for a new league and in the end the NFL would still win out.
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." -Benjamin Franklin
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."-Steve Earle
"I'd rather be a dead Gram Parsons than a live Garth Brooks"-Kinky Friedman
Now riding in First Class on the "DRAFT LaRON BYRD IN 2011" Airbus A380.
by texascowpunk on May 17, 2010 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions
This is a preposterous statement
There are many issues involved with the CBA bargaining that is going on. There are a myriad of solutions to the complex issues. But lockouts, strikes, or work stoppages are only three of many possible solutions. Extending the uncapped year for one season is a possibility. De-certification of the union with full football is a very strong possibility. Replacement players are a possibility. But to say that there will be no football is preposterous.
There are two main issues to be decided.
1) The owners share revenue among themselves. Small market teams get checks from big market teams to promote parity and competition in the league. The owners are fighting among themselves as to what the new division should be. They have been sharing money for almost 50 years. You would think maybe they would see that it works pretty well.
2) The owners pay 60% of the revenue ( not including stadium revenue and Franchise Fees) to the players. The owners want to pay less. This amounts to about 128 Million per team.
It really is doubtful that the owners or players would take the risk of killing the Golden Goose. But hey, when I think back to the fact that started the union, nothing would surprise me. Know what it was?
The Green Bay players in 1958 asked for a second set of clean Jock straps during two a day practices. The owners turned them down.
And that is why a union was born. That is also preposterous and so true.
"Is it normal to wake up in the morning in a sweat because you can't wait to beat another human's guts out?"
Joe Kapp
by lifelongvike on May 10, 2010 1:47 PM EDT reply actions
I see a solution...
Offer an unlimited supply of clean jock straps to the players in exchange for an 18 % paycut. Rookies, however, must buy their own jock straps. Now let’s play ball.
"Stay thirsty my friends"
by Rick Bates on May 18, 2010 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Ultimately
a deal will get worked out because the NFL is king and if there’s a lockout, you seriously jeopardize that notion. I guarantee that no one is that stupid or greedy. The NFL prints money and I don’t see that changing. I know this much, DeMaurice Smith is a moron.
Brad James
by the new Bradfather on May 11, 2010 1:41 AM EDT reply actions
DeMaurice Smith is a Moron?
That kind of statement, made with no facts to back it up, is exactly the kind of rhetoric that causes labor issues to be unresolved. DeMaurice Smith represents a group of workers whose employers are requesting an 18% pay cut. He has said in response, " if you are truly in need of us taking a pay cut please show us your books and prove what your saying is true". The owners reply was “No.”
Could you please explain to me why you feel Maurice is being a moron?
"Is it normal to wake up in the morning in a sweat because you can't wait to beat another human's guts out?"
Joe Kapp
by lifelongvike on May 11, 2010 6:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Sorry
I believe he’s a moron because he has not taken care of unrestricted free agents this season who under normal circumstances would have been free to test the waters and sell themselves to future employers. He’s ultimately a moron because he knows the owners hold all the leverage. DeMaurice, shut up now, have the players acquiesce and let’s get this gosh dang lockout settled. The players have to fall on the sword. Sorry, we fans want football and that’s the only thing that will suffice. Again, sorry for not specifying my reasons previously, but that’s why
Brad James
by the new Bradfather on May 11, 2010 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Interesting viewpoint.
As I read your logic you believe that the end result of having a football season far outweighs the issues involved. The owners are in control so give them what they want. Lets just play football. Well, football will be played in 2011. Probably with a de-certified union, five years of lawsuits, and an unending array of labor unrest.
Believe me when I say I understand your viewpoint and from a fan’s perspective it probably mirrors the viewpoint of Millions of football fans. But there are two sides to every labor disagreement. I suspect that the NFLPA hired DeMaurice Smith because he understands the issues the players have. His job is to represent the players not the fans His job is not to give up at the first sign of a battle. But calling him a moron because the owners opted out of a contract that Maurice didn’t negotiate just doesn’t make sense.
"Is it normal to wake up in the morning in a sweat because you can't wait to beat another human's guts out?"
Joe Kapp
by lifelongvike on May 12, 2010 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions
Thanks
for your insight, I guess that perhaps I’m also calling him DeMoron Smith out of spite. Just quit screwing around and give me my football bereft of uncertainty. Uncertainty is the suckiest thing in the world for an NFL fan.
Brad James
by the new Bradfather on May 12, 2010 5:57 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree with that.
Thanks for taking my criticism so well. I also wish and hope for labor peace.
The last 30 years of NFL peaceful relations have been brought about by one fact. The two sides agreed to split the revenue 60/40. If the league revenues go down so do the players income. But that guarantee, which has worked so well that NO NFL TEAM loses money, just isn’t good enough for the owners. I’m kinda hoping the greedy, stupid, Billionaires get their head handed to them by the lowly linemen they employ.
"Is it normal to wake up in the morning in a sweat because you can't wait to beat another human's guts out?"
Joe Kapp
by lifelongvike on May 13, 2010 6:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Ultimately Plus One
Both sides are operating/maneuvering under a gathering storm.
The economy is hanging by a thread, with the government spending
our futures into oblivion. If fiscally responsible people are not put in
charge soon in Washington, we can expect ( according to several
different economic forecasts ) double-digit inflation by next year.
The owners and players will then be bickering over a rapidly shrinking
pie. Sure, there will still be football, ( the league survived the Great
Depression ), but the golden era of the NFL may be over. Enjoy the
2010 season, it may be the best you’ll get for a long time.
by Ufansince65 on May 11, 2010 1:13 PM EDT reply actions
Lockout
The owners signaled their intentions when they opted out and then hired “Lockout Lawyer” Batterman. I can’t believe that they’re that stupid/ egotistical/whatever. The amount of money they would lose would be astronomical. I don’t know who they’re trying to bluff, the players or the small market teams. They’ve got to get their revenue sharing straightened out first.
by NFL Sage on May 18, 2010 7:27 PM EDT reply actions
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