The final game of the 2010 NFL season will be played Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium when the AFC and NFC champions meet in the Super Bowl . It could be the final NFL game of the 2011 calendar year as well. The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association expires March 3. If no extension is reached, the owners plan to lock out the players March 4. Football activity will not resume until the two sides can agree on a new CBA, which could jeopardize the 2011 season. About three dozen negotiating sessions have been held since the owners opted out of the current CBA in May 2008. Last month, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached by the Super Bowl.
"I believe this becomes harder if the deal expires in March," Goodell said. "I don't have a deadline. I won't be satisfied until we get it done. That's our priority, and we want to get it done as soon as possible." Goodell followed up with an e-mail to thousands of NFL fans this week, saying, "I know we can and will reach an agreement." The players do not share his optimism, however. "At the end of the day, we don't have a deal done," said Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel, a member of the NFLPA executive committee. "So you can say there's a little bit of progress, a lot of progress or no progress. But is there or is there not a deal? Right now there's not. How far are we from that? Nobody knows."
Bottom line
There has been talk of increasing the length of the season and the size of rosters, reducing off-season programs and establishing a rookie wage scale. But the bottom line in this standoff is money. The trouble started brewing in March 2006 when the owners agreed to a radical change in the CBA to extend the deal through 2011. Under the agreement negotiated in 1993, the players shared upward of 62 percent of the league's "designated" gross revenue. That was revenue derived primarily from national TV contracts and ticket sales. The owners were allowed to keep revenue from stadium luxury suites, parking, concessions, merchandising, signage and the like.
In 2005, the designated gross revenue accounted for 87 percent of all NFL revenue. The players received a 64.5 percent cut of that. But in 2006, in extending the CBA through the 2011 season, the owners agreed to put all revenue into one pot to be split with the players. In exchange, the players allowed the owners to take $1 billion off the top for stadium costs. The players would then receive 59.5 percent of the remaining revenues.
It took two years for the owners to realize that labor model was not working for them, so they opted out. As a consequence, the final season of the current CBA was played in 2010 without a salary cap. Owners initially pitched at the bargaining table an 18 percent reduction in the players' take of league revenues. Essentially, the owners wanted another $1 billion taken off the top. Talks have been chilly ever since.
"I've heard that we should be partners in growing this game," Vrabel said. "But in any kind of partnership I've ever been involved in, this isn't how it works. It certainly is frustrating from our standpoint. "If this deal doesn't work and this last CBA was so bad for them that it's got to change and the economic model doesn't work right now, we need to know. I know people get tired of hearing us say, 'Show us how bad you're doing and then we can negotiate.' That's the key: How bad off are they?"
Revenue issue
But the owners steadfastly refuse to show the NFLPA their books. Thus, the stalemate. Albeit a stalemate with a sense of urgency. "The fans want football and that's what we all need to make sure we continue to do – bring football to our fans," Goodell said. "When there's uncertainty, it's not a good thing. It's not a good thing for your fans, it's not a good thing for your business partners, it's not a good thing for the potential for revenue. It can be damaging for the game, and that's something we're trying to avoid."
The players are viewing the negotiations through percentage points. The owners are viewing it through dollar bills. The players are saying they will not accept a dramatic reduction in their percentage of the revenues. "We can't go back to 1985," Vrabel said. "We're not going to give everything back." The owners are saying forget the percentage points. Players are receiving more total dollars than ever. In 2005, the salary-cap figure for each team was $85.5 million. In 2006, when the owners agreed to dump all the revenue into one pot, the cap figure jumped to $102 million. If the owners had not opted out of the CBA, the salary cap in 2009 was scheduled to be $128 million.
The size of the roster didn't change from 2005 to 2009. So there would have been an extra $42.5 million per team to spread around the locker room. The owners maintain they need a larger cut of the revenue pie for operating expenses and an incentive to increase growing that pie through sales, marketing and sponsorships. The players got 62 percent of the designated gross revenue in the first CBA in 1993. Since then, the NFL has built 22 new stadiums, including billion-dollar palaces in Dallas and New York. The debt service has gone through the roof, yet the owners still get less than half of a gross revenue split. That's why the owners decided this labor model wasn't working. This dispute isn't about football. It's about 32 owners and roughly 1,800 players finding a fair way to split the estimated $9.7 billion in NFL revenue projected for 2011.
"In my true heart of hearts, I feel like something will get done this summer," Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said. "Cooler heads will prevail. Everybody loves this game. Owners, players. It's all about what we do as far as what we love and giving some entertainment to the fans, too. So we'll be playing."
More games
Once the two sides resolve the money issue, everything else will fall into place. The centerpiece of the new deal would be an 18-game season. The extended season would put players at a greater risk for injury. So there is a belief the next CBA would include a second bye week for each team. The television networks insist that the NFL season not begin before Labor Day. More eyes will be on NFL games on television when school starts in September and summer vacations have been completed.
The NFL began the 2010 season on the weekend of Sept. 9-13. Adding two games and an additional bye to the schedule would have pushed the regular season to Jan. 23. Four more weekends of playoffs, capped by the Super Bowl, would have brought the season to a conclusion on Feb. 20. If you wedge in the traditional playoff bye weekend leading up to the Super Bowl, a champion would have been crowned on Feb. 27.
Playing a Super Bowl after Valentine's Day seems ridiculous to traditionalists. But the TV networks would be in favor of a longer season. The longer the season, the better the exposure for the corporate sponsors of the NFL and the networks. A projected 18-game schedule plus two regular-season byes and one playoff bye would expand the football calendar to 172 days – still a full calendar month shorter than every other major sport – Major League Baseball, the NBA and NHL.
The downside is that the Northern cities such as Buffalo, Cleveland and Cincinnati would be playing home games in frigid conditions in January. The NFL could incorporate more geographic considerations into its scheduling. Southern and dome teams would have schedules laden with home games late in the season, and Northern teams would have heavy home slates early. Don't be surprised if a Buffalo or Cleveland finishes a season with three consecutive games on the road just to keep the players and fans out of the cold.
Major sports seasons
Of the four major sports, the NFL's season is the shortest. A look at the length of the current NFL season and the most recent seasons for the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball.
League Opening day Final day Days
NHL Oct. 1, 2009 June 9, 2010 252
NBA Oct. 27, 2009 June 17, 2010 234
Baseball April 4, 2010 Nov. 1, 2010 212
NFL Sept. 9, 2010 Feb. 6, 2011 151
IN THE KNOW
What you need to know about the NFL's collective bargaining agreement
What's at stake:
The agreement between the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association expires March 3. If no extension is reached, the owners plan to lock out the players March 4. The 2011 season would be in jeopardy.
The key negotiating points:
• Redistribution of revenue. The players have been receiving more than 50 percent of the league revenues under the current system. The owners want a more equitable split to account for the money they spend building, maintaining and generating revenue for the new stadiums.
• 18-game schedule with two preseason games. The league currently plays a 16-game schedule with four preseason games.
• Entry-level wage scale for rookies. High draft picks are receiving upward of $40 million guaranteed without ever having played an NFL down in the current system.
• Reducing the length of the off-season programs. Teams are allowed up to 18 on-the-field sessions during the off-season. If there is to be an extended season, the players want a reduction in off-season work.
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