As of last week, there’s a good chance we can all kiss the 2011-2012 NFL season goodbye if there isn’t a new collective bargaining agreement by March, resulting in a lockout.
For those unfamiliar with the term, the Collective Bargaining Agreement is basically a labor agreement regulating working conditions, wages and health benefits between employers and employees – in this case the players and the owners.
A few weeks ago, discussions appeared to be heading somewhat in the right direction. On Feb. 9, however, negotiations between the NFL Players’ Association and the NFL took a turn for the worse when insulted team owners walked away from the meeting when presented a 50-50 proposal by the NFLPA, according to espn.com.
The proposal suggested the owners and the players eliminate “total revenue” altogether and share “all revenue,”estimated at about $9 billion, generated from the league. It would prevent both sides from gaining a financial edge and would even reduce the amount of money the players would receive by about $300 million.
NFL owners wholeheartedly rejected this and even canceled another meeting scheduled earlier this week because the owners are looking to acquire more money than they currently are receiving.
As it stands in the current CBA, owners receive the first billion dollars of “all revenue” before splitting the rest of the revenue or “total revenue,” with the players.
Once the billion dollars is cut from the top, the players receive 60 percent of “total revenue” which is defined as $9 billion minus the $1 billion dollars owed to the owners.
The owners, however, view the current CBA in favor of the players and are now proposing they take $2 billion from the top instead of the initial $1 billion.
The current CBA expires March 3 at midnight, and if both sides do not reach an agreement for a new CBA, the entire season will be in jeopardy. It’s all in the hands of the owners. Just think about it: it’s the billionaires in one corner and the millionaires in the other.
If you do the math for the owners’ new proposal, they are seeking a total exceeding $5 billion, while the players are earning just over $4 billion if and only if they are allowed to maintain their 60 percent cut of “total revenue.”
Keep in mind that owners want more money and are looking to expand the NFL season to 18 games to generate more revenue. Translation: more labor and less pay.
Two games doesn’t seem like too much to ask, but the physical toll on a football player’s body from 18 games could decrease the career of the players from 3.5-3.6 years to 2.7-2.8 years, according to an article published on nydailynews.com.
But all the negotiations that have transpired the last few months suggest is that NFL owners are flat-out GREEDY.
While I do believe athletes are very generously paid, I have no pity for the owners who are sitting in their suite comfortably watching their star players literally make them billions of dollars.
