Labor dispute.
Those are two words that no league, no players and no fans ever want to hear.
It's too bad that it appears the NFL could be on its way to having one after the league's owners voted unanimously Tuesday to opt out of the 2006 collective bargaining agreement extension following the 2010 season.
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| Owners like Washington's Dan Snyder have cut back on jobs and expenses. (Getty Images) |
But before you start cursing the greedy owners, the fill-up-my-wallet players and the union bosses for potentially messing up what makes your fall Sundays so enjoyable, I have this to offer to calm your fears:
This will get resolved before it causes a work stoppage.
Why? Everybody, despite what they might be saying, is getting rich in the NFL. The players are making more money than they ever have. The owners might be getting pinched a bit more than normal because of debt repayment on new stadiums, but they, too, are making a lot of money -- no matter what their books might say. Some say those are cooked more than a burnt steak.
Are these men making decisions stupid enough to ruin this money-printing machine? NFL football is by far and away the most popular league going. A lot of that, despite the league making gambling a taboo subject, is because people bet on it. Fantasy football is another reason. Who doesn't spend Sunday mornings filling out their lineup card? As a result, fans have an insatiable appetite for information. It's year-round, non-stop, NFL all the time.
A work stoppage can damage that. It can sour a public to a league that seems to have a steel coat as insulation from fan attrition. The economy isn't what it was for NFL business right now, but it's far tougher to take when millionaire isn't next to your name and Forbes Magazine doesn't have a spot for you on its annual list of the richest people in the world. Or if you're a star player making $15 million a season.
Average Joe, who is having a tough time making ends meet in this current economic climate, isn't about to show any sympathy toward the plight of millionaires, owners or players alike.
We pay nearly $4 for a gallon of gas now. Can you imagine what it will be in 2011 when there is a possible NFL work stoppage? Not seeing football on Sunday might be far from a worry then if oil prices don't stop rising.
The biggest reason owners want out of the current deal is because of labor costs. The players, they say, get far too much of the pie. They get 60 percent now, which the owners insist now is too much.
The league had this to say in a statement Tuesday about that: "The NFL earns very substantial revenues. But the clubs are obligated by the CBA to spend substantially more than half their revenues -- almost $4.5 billion this year alone -- on player costs. In addition, as we have explained to the union, the clubs must spend significant and growing amounts on stadium construction, operations and improvements to respond to the interests and demands of our fans. The current labor agreement does not adequately recognize the costs of generating the revenues of which the players receive the largest share; nor does the agreement recognize that those costs have increased substantially -- and at an ever increasing rate -- in recent years during a difficult economic climate in our country. As a result, under the terms of the current agreement, the clubs' incentive to invest in the game is threatened."
