NFL, Players Flirting With Disaster

Image via WikipediaBy the time you read this, NFL owners and the players association will have (A) avoided a costly lockout, (B) failed to settle their differences, or (C) agreed to keep talking.  The fate of the 2011 season hangs on what they decide to do.

What it comes down to is $9 billion in annual revenues, and how to divide it between the two parties.  The owners want to get more of their share in order to pay for ever-skyrocketing expenses, which includes expanding the regular season to 18 games.  The players have threatened to decertify their union, then go to court to challenge the league's anti-trust status.  They also want to keep the current 16-game schedule out of concern for injuries.

One thing the players have going for them is a ruling by a judge in Minneapolis, who told the owners that they can't use the $4 billion in TV money as a buffer against a lockout.

Granted, the timing of a possible lockout isn't as dire as you might think.  We are a few weeks removed from Green Bay defeating Pittsburgh in Super Bowl 45, which was seen by 111 million viewers, the biggest audience in TV history.  The NFL Draft will be held whether there's a work stoppage or not.  About all that really goes on prior to July are those "voluntary" practices and mini-camps that the NFL considers important, even if some players don't think so.

But once summer hits and there's no new collective bargaining agreement, the pressure will be on to get a deal done before training camp opens.  If that doesn't happen, what then?  The next deadline is September, when the regular season is supposed to start.  That's when we know if both parties are serious about playing the season, or if it's going to be 1987 all over again.  That was the year replacement players were used.

It's almost ludicrous to choose sides when it comes to billionaire owners who give millions to professional football players, then fight over more money than anyone else who hasn't won the lottery will see in their lifetimes.  But no one complains when Hollywood royalty such as Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio or Julia Roberts make tons of money every time they make a movie.

In the recent history of work stoppages in sports, the NFL has been through two of them.  Major League Baseball lost a World Series.  The NHL canceled an entire season.  If a new CBA isn't settled on soon, the most successful of all pro sports leagues might be asking its fans to find something else to do on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights.