To answer the question honestly, I don’t know.
In fact, I’d probably say I doubt it.
NFL owners seem intent on locking out the players prior to next season if they don’t get what they want in a new collective bargaining agreement. What that potentially means for you and I is no NFL games to watch.
There are several issues at stake. The two most notable are, the owners want a reduction in player salaries to offset rising stadium costs and they want to increase the regular season schedule to 18 games. The players are in favor of neither.
Expanded drug testing and a rookie wage scale are also being pushed by the owners.
In other words, negotiations are going to get more contentious than they already are.
The current agreement between the players and owners ends in March of 2011. If a new collective bargaining agreement isn’t reached by then, a lockout is expected.
So, back to my initial question. Can you help block the lockout?
While I highly doubt the owners care what you think of their business practices, you sure as hell can try. One way to do that is by signing the petition at NFLLockout.com.
This is a site maintained by the player’s union, so don’t go there looking for arguments for both sides. However, if you want to make your voice heard and you want to say a lockout is a stupid idea, then feel free to support the cause.
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if theres no nfl season next year my fucking head will explode with anger. maybe vince mcmahn will bring back the xfl
I’m betting the owners lock the players out the moment the league year is over, the players will cave by week six and we’ll have an eight game season. The NHL has already set the precedent by getting just about everything they wanted from their lockout, the NBA is next.
Yes, there will be a lockout. It will begin next March. Fortunately for everyone involved, football doesn’t start until September. I would expect everything to be settled by September 1st or so. The players don’t give a shit about the preseason so they will be happy to skip it.
The issue is that the players make about 60% of total revenues. This is higher than in any other sports league. The owners want this reduced drastically. The players understandably do not. Every other issue- 18 game season, preseason length, rookie salaries, pension benefits, safety- these are all far secondary to the 800 pound gorilla of the splitting of the pie.
The players can talk tough and likely will with a new union president wanting to prove he isn’t as soft as Gene Upshaw, but ultimately the owners hold the cards. The NFL’s popularity has peaked and is far ahead of any other sport, which makes this the perfect time to have a lockout if you have to. Also, the majority of the TV contracts are GUARANTEED. Thus, through revenue sharing, every owner gets his piece of the tv revenue, which equates to about $30 million per team, regardless of whether any games are actually played. The players on the other hand make nothing if no games are played. The richer players may have saved some of their signing bonus’ in anticipation of a lockout, but the majority of your average salary players still live paycheck-to-paycheck and can hardly afford to not get paid, especially when you consider the union’s misleading stats regarding the length of an average career.
The TV contracts are garanteed and each team will recieve $30 mill per,chicken feed.Does anyone think that the networks will not have a big push for the players to get this CBA done.
The amount of money lost for the networks is staggering when it’s the players that make the advertisment revenue.People watch football for the players,the larger majority of fans couldn’t name the owners other than the douche bag Jerry Jones who buys so much air time.
The previous disputes were nothing compared to this one,way too much to lose for all involved.
If this happen it going to get even more ugly than the NHL lockout in terms of revenue lost.
I will literally have nothing if I have no football. This better get resolved.