Casualties of the NFL Labor Battles

On July 25, the NFL and its players announced to the world that the four month long battle for millions had finally come to an end. Sports writers, analysts and thousands that depend on the NFL for income surely rejoiced, but don't forget the list of wounded that this battle has left on the field. Don't be confused. There were many that were injured in this battle and the only question is if they will ever recover. Here is a list of the biggest recipients of battle scars from this four month long fight.

City of Canton

I'm sure there are a lot of people who can't even tell you where Canton is located on a map. The loss of the Hall of Fame Game is a significant blow to the economy of this Ohio town. The Hall of Fame Game (which has been played in Canton for over 40 years) is what many football fans consider to be the unofficial start of football season. The game was cancelled due to the fact that the CBA wasn't reached in time to play the game. Will Canton wither and die? Probably not, but this tough little town will surely feel the impact of having thousands of out-of-towners pouring in to part with their hard earned cash.

The Tax Payers

During the lockout, the NFL and its players were in tons of legal proceedings. Some of the legal matters were still unresolved at the time of this writing and figure to be issues for months to come. We heard judges and courts and courts of appeal and federal intervention, but what we didn't hear was that the NFL and/or NFLPA was going to pick up the tab for all the governments legal manpower. That's because they didn't pick up the tab. We did.

Ticket Prices

Well somebody has to pay for all the monies that NFL owners aren't going to be able to claim and guess who that's going to be? I would be shocked if at least 50% of the stadiums in the league don't raise ticket prices. If not this year, then you can betcha that you'll see a big hike in prices next year. I would keep an eye on merchandising prices as well.

The NFL Fan's

While there's no monetary value that you can put on this one, it could be the biggest hit of all. After Major League Baseball went on strike years ago, it took years for the fans to overcome the feelings of abandon. While the NFL will only miss one preseason game, the psychological damage has already been done. From a public relations standpoint, the NFL and its players couldn't have picked a worse time to play this battle out on a national stage. With 10% of the country unemployed, thousands of foreclosures and layoffs there simply isn't a lot of sympathy for the NFL players or owners as the public perception has been that of millionaires and billionaires fighting for more. The newly united NFL has its work cut out for it, let's just hope that the product that comes back to the field was worth the battle.