It’s no secret that NFL players, coaches, owners, fans and the industry surrounding the game of professional football are extremely concerned about what is going to happen when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on March 4, 2011.
Some owners and coaches are acting in anticipation of a season without football. Teams have laid off workers. Free agency movement is slow. The NFL Scouting Combine and 2011 NFL Draft are the only events that are sure to take place.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has indicated that he wants to get negotiations completed – or at least begun - before the ‘critical’ deadline of March 4th but not much could happen until the last minute according to NFL outside labor counsel Bob Batterman. The attorney spoke on an Atlanta, GA radio station recently and said that it’s not unusual for negotiations in situations like this to not progress at all right up to the deadline or beyond.
“Unfortunately, it is in the nature of collective bargaining,” he said. “It is a process in which it is usually deadline bargaining. Sometimes you do go over the edge. It is not usual when there are difficult, contentious issues that you have an early resolution.”
There are certainly “difficult, contentious issues” in this negotiation. Not only has an 18-game season been added to the table, there are revenue-sharing issues between team markets, owners and players; medical care and insurance issues, safety issues and basic money issues surrounding the salary cap, rookie pay and more.
The issues are complicated. However, the bottom line is a lack of equality (perceived or not) between the players and the owners. Whether it is revenue sharing of television profits or enough money for players to get proper medical care after they stop playing the game, it all comes down to the almighty dollar in one way or the other.
The issue of the owners receiving revenue from the TV networks whether football is played or not has been publicized but not correctly interpreted by the media according to Batterman. Whereas many think that the Snyder’s and Jones’ of the world will get a check from FOX even if there are no games played next year, Batterman says that no cash will cross any palms. Rather, credit will be given for when the games are finally played. Owners’ wallets will not become fatter, in other words.
To be believed when it is seen.
“This is an issue which has been so misreported,” Batterman said during the interview. “The owners have the right under circumstances to draw down payments from some of the broadcasters even if there is a work stoppage but it is not a cash payment which they get to keep. It is like a line of credit. It is like a home equity loan. They have to pay it back the following year with interest, with significant interest. All it is [is] the equivalent of another bank line of credit. That is all. It is not something where if they draw down the money it is a gift from the network.”
“Draw down payments…” and “not a cash payment...” These words are contradictions in terms. It’s no wonder there is confusion about the issues.
Batterman feels the need to make a distinction between the owners' “revenue” and their “profit.” When asked about the accuracy of reported $9 billion in annual NFL revenues he says, "It is close, but that is revenue not profits. That is revenue.”
Anyone who’s taken a basic economics class knows that (in simple terms) revenue is the total amount of monies made from product sales before any operating overhead or expenses (i.e., bills) are paid. Profit is the amount of money left over after payment of operating expenses. R – OE = P. So revenue less all of the costs or expenses leaves the profits.
Hey… even if the billions of dollars that the owners make annually are “revenue” and not “profit,” we are still talking about a lot of money here. It’s not hundreds of dollars. It’s not thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. We are not even talking about millions or tens of millions here. The issue is about billions of dollars. Fans who are scraping to pay their water bills and buy gas to go to work are having a problem getting upset for the owners who want more whether the current state of affairs is equal or not. Especially because it is the players providing the entertainment that are getting beat up on the field.
Recently, the owners and the union agreed to meet with a federal mediator for a week in an effort to come to some resolution. It is non-binding mediation but mediation all the same. Since at this point, they have barely been able to decide when to meet, much less how to come to some common ground between the very difficult issues, I heartily applaud this step.
"This is not binding on the parties," said Seth H. Borden, according to The Washington Post. "The role of the mediator is to try to find common ground and narrow the areas of dispute between them. He's going to be working with what he has to work with. At the end of the day, if one party or the other feels it's not productive, they can withdraw from the process."
While things may be starting to move forward, they likely won't move forward in earnest until the zero hour. A previously scheduled owners meeting for March 3 in Fort Lauderdale, FL was just changed to be held on March 2nd near Dulles Airport according to Mark Maske. Well, every little bit helps. One day is definitely a little bit earlier.
Now, if both sides (and in my opinion it is the owners that need to give the most on the issues) can agree that to keep football on the field is the most important thing here, things could move quickly once they actually start meaningful communication.
Arizona Cardinals kicker and player representative Jay Feely has the right perspective on things. “We have record revenue, we have record TV ratings, we have record worth of franchises and players have never made more money,” he said according to nfllabor.com. "It is inherent on both sides to find a way to get a deal done."
From a fan perspective, a lockout is unacceptable. Football must be played in 2011.
