Billion Dollar Babies
As an avid NFL fan, I've kept a close eye on the on-going labor talks and I'm sickened. At this point, I would guess there's a 95% chance there will be no NFL season next year, at least not as we know the NFL. We might get half a season or a full season with replacement players at best unless a new deal is magically forged by the March 4th deadline.
There exists a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Union, the union body that looks out for the wages and welfare of all players in the league. The CBA's are generally 3-5 years in length and cover issues like revenue sharing, player contracts, free agency rules, salary cap, the draft and pretty much all things related to keeping the NFL running. Owners or the Union can opt out of the agreement if they so choose. This happened in 2008 when the owners opted out of the previous CBA that was signed in 2006.
That made this past season one with no salary cap, as per the rules of the CBA. The NFL and NHL have a salary cap, or a maximum amount of money a team may spend on player contracts which is designed to promote a level playing field for all teams in the league. The MLB does not have a salary cap and clubs can spend as much or as little money as they want on their players. This is why the Yankees have a $200+ million dollar payroll and the Devil Rays spend just $70 million and the Pirates a mere $34 million. The NFL salary cap was $128 million before this uncapped season.
Oddly enough, salary cap is not an issue in preventing a new deal from getting done, but rather a consequence of their not being a deal in place. The real issues are as follows: Revenue Sharing, Rookie Wage Scale, Player Benefits and Season Length.
Rookie Wage Scale: Both sides want this to be implemented, but they've far different ideas on the topic. I also think this is a good idea for the NFL. Why should some fresh out of college-never-proved-anything-on-a-professional-level kid get a huge contract with a gigantic signing bonus? In 2009, the average salary was $1.9 mill a year for QB, $1.2 mill for DT and $900K for RB's. Matthew Stafford signed a 6 year $78 million contract with $41.7 million of that guaranteed before he even stepped out on the field. My idea is this: All rookie contracts are 3 years in length worth a maximum base of $5 million a year, minimum of $800K no guaranteed money. Work in various incentive clauses based on play time and performance factors. That way Mr. rookie franchise QB of the future only makes $5 mil his first season if he bombs out, gets hurt or sits the whole season to learn. If he starts right away and plays well then pay him accordingly. After his 3 years he becomes a restricted free agent, which will allow his current team to retain the player if they so choose.
Season Length: Currently the NFL season consists of 17 weeks of regular season (16 games per team) and 4 weeks of pre-season. The owners wish to remove 2 pre-season games and go to an 18 week regular season. Citing growing concerns about the rise of injuries the players are opposed to this idea. I do agree that the pre-season is too long, and often results in star players getting hurt. However, I think only having 2 pre-season games isn't enough and would create less competitive and competent games. A 3 game pre-season schedule thus seems reasonable. As far as extending the regular season to 18 games over 19 weeks, I do not think this is a wise idea. There's nothing wrong with the current schedule and as the old adage goes, is its not broke then don't fix it.
Revenue Sharing and Player Benefits: These are the real back breaking issues which will lead to there not being and NFL season next year. In short, money that NFL teams earn via TV contracts, merchandise/apparel and ticket sales go into a pool and are distributed among all the teams in the league. Again this is to ensure that all teams can remain competitive despite what local markets they may exist in. Right now, the owners with to gain a larger share of this pool than they currently command. The last CBA they agreed to give the players more money and now they want it back. Essentially, both sides are crying about how to divvy up a billion dollars. Just today, the players union proposed a 50-50 split and the owners walked out and canceled tomorrows scheduled negotiating session. Currently, the players get about 60% of the $8 Billion in total revenue. Seems to me they should split it 50-50 and be happy with $4 Billion a year.
This whole thing is starting to become a bad dream. There's 32 NFL owners and 1 stupid commissioner who are so greedy that they're willing to sacrifice and entire season and all the money that would come with it just to get a few extra dollars and more games. Like it or not, the owners need the players because the league can't exist with out the players. All these old ass men like Ralph Wilson need to get with the times. Sharing is caring. Pay your employees, give them protection after retirement and in turn you will make money off of them. A lot of money.
