Economy, CBA focus of discussions at NFL meetings

DANA POINT, Calif. -- America's Team will open its palatial new home this summer, most likely without a naming rights deal.

The NFL trims its staff by 15 percent, commissioner Roger Goodell takes a pay cut, and three-quarters of the teams don't raise ticket prices for 2009.

A new collective bargaining agreement with the players union must be reached in the next year, or the league faces an uncapped 2010 season and perhaps a labor stoppage.

Troubled times are brewing for the NFL.

"It's a different business atmosphere than 20 to 30 years ago," Houston Texans owner Bob McNair said Monday. "Originally, we worried about selling tickets. Now we've got to worry about selling tickets, about keeping media partners happy, operating stadiums, keeping fans happy in the stadium, servicing debts."

Economics and the CBA are the main topics of discussion at the owners meetings, but resolutions are not forthcoming anytime soon. While the NFL is the most profitable of leagues, with the average team value estimated at $1 billion, it still is surrounded by question marks.

Most notable, of course, is the CBA, which the owners opted out of last year -- effective after the 2010 season -- saying it favored the players too heavily.

"We need a structure that works long-term," McNair said. "We can't expect the fans to pay more and more and more. We have to hold all our expenses down and labor is just one of them."

The players get about 60 percent of applicable revenues, and with the league considering expanding the regular season to 17 or 18 games -- and cutting out some preseason matches -- the NFLPA is not about to consider any substantial cuts in that number.

Plus, the NFL must be sensitive to the problems of its media partners, particularly the TV networks, and of its sponsors.

Consider that when the Dallas Cowboys open their $1.1 billion stadium this summer, it might not have a corporate name on it. With the Cowboys' atop the NFL value list and their popularity so high, selling naming rights would seem an easy chore. Not in this economy, though.

"We're not naive to what's going on in the country and the economic crisis," Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said. "We're very respectful of that now. Obviously, there are some factors when you're opening a new building in this economy."

The Cowboys reportedly had AT&T lined up for naming rights last year, but that deal has been put on hold.