The NFL Locks Out Its Players
Since the 5 p.m. deadline on Friday, the Players Association has decertified as a union and no further negotiations have taken place. The NFL officially locked out the players on Saturday, March 12, 2011.
Following the expiration of the CBA, the owners' revenue stream was cut off due to the March 1 ruling by U.S District Judge David S. Doty to hold $4 billion of television money in escrow during the lockout. By holding funds that were intended to pay expenses during the lockout, the owners will likely be forced back to the bargaining table with players sooner rather than later. However, the players will have no income for the duration of the lockout.
While the NFLPA warned players to save income in case of a lockout, younger players who have just entered the NFL or would be entering the league for the upcoming season will have to find another way to earn a living. This could include joining the fledgling United Football League, whose games start in early August this year. The UFL moved its season back to allow for the possibility that locked out players could play in the league.
The players have also chosen to fight the lockout by filing a class-action anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. The plaintiffs in the case include Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The lawsuit includes an injunction to stop the NFL from locking out its players. If successful, the Players Association would have tremendous leverage in negotiations and would put the 2011 season back on schedule.
Another loser in the labor fight is the fans, and there is nothing they can do to force the owners and the players back to the negotiating table. Five months out of the year, fans turn on televisions in their living rooms, hang out in local sports bars, or attend their team's games religiously. Now the game they love to watch on Sundays, talk about on Mondays, and dream about the rest of the week is being taken from them.
Most fans do not care who wins the labor fight. What they care about is how long they will have to go without NFL football. Fan sentiment is the same as it's been in past labor battles: just get it done. Fortunately for both the NFL and the players, football isn't like baseball in this country. Following the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, it took years for most fans to come back to the game. The NFL will not have that problem; the fans will come back ready and willing to throw money at their favorite teams.
The best thing the NFL and its players can do at this point is to get a new CBA worked out immediately. While the lockout remains in effect, everybody loses.
Sources:
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/11/24/ufl-to-start-2011-season-in-august-have-sunday-games/
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=reu-disputeplayerslawsuit_pix
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/03/11/union-labor/index.html
Published by Derek Ciapala - Featured Contributor in Technology and Sports
A native of Youngstown, Ohio, I joined the U.S. Navy and served for nine years. I was honorably discharged in 2006, and completed my Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ohio State University in 2007. I m curren... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentYet these players are driving these current CBA talks. People can blame the union if they want but it is the players that are in the driving seat and dictating the terms of any agreement. It is the players that wanted those books OPEN. It is not the union. The owners just about stipulated to everything the players wanted and the PLAYERS said NO.
Until the owners stop de-valuing and disrespecting the players there will be no agreement. Many of these players have just as much BUSINESS sense as the owners.
I'm not on any side but I can certainly see this from the players perspective - at least now anyway. The owners stated years ago their intentions to get out from under the just expired CBA.They worked out a deal to line their pockets with 4bil. in the event of a lockout... And everyone knows the owners aren't the ones paying for their billion dollar stadiums, the tax payers are. So, I can the players being suspicious of the owners intentions and claims.
In any case, the recent antitrust lawsuit filed for the players must have the owners spitting mad and wishing they had reached an agreement. I mean heck, the players are seeking triple damages, they want to be paid regardless of a work stoppage or not, they are seeking the ability to get out of their contracts....I mean these guys aren't playing around! Here these owners more than likely thought the players were mindless, ignorant meat-heads, overpaid, spoiled, entitled brats....Yet these players are driving these curre