Mark Craig summarizes the labour situation between the NFL and its players:
A moment incomprehensible to fans of North America’s most popular and profitable sports league is now, finally, upon us.
At a tick past 11 p.m. Thursday, the three-year standoff between billionaire owners and millionaire players could result in the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987. Barring a new collective bargaining agreement or a temporary extension of the current one, all NFL business except next month’s draft is expected to cease as the owners lock out the players. Meanwhile, all concerns for the 2011 offseason, preseason, regular season and Super Bowl XLVI officially shift to threat level Orange.[. . .]
Owners claim the status quo is a recipe for financial destruction of the league but resist the players’ request to open the books and prove it. Owners possess franchises worth an average of $1.02 billion, charge fans in some cities up to five figures just for the license to buy season tickets, and oversee a thriving empire that drew a record 111 million TV viewers for last month’s Super Bowl.
The two major stumbling blocks since the owners opted out of the current CBA in 2008 are dividing revenue and extending the regular season from 16 to 18 games. The owners get $1 billion off the top before giving the players 59.5 percent of the remaining $8 billion. The owners now want another $1 billion off the top.
Yesterday’s news of the decision in David Doty’s court room may force the owners to negotiate with more urgency, as they were depending on having access to the billions in TV revenue even if no games were played.
Update: Rumour on Twitter is that the players and the owners have agreed to a 24-hour extension of the CBA. Hopefully this time will be used to make progress, not merely postures.
