Being a part of Union, I am forewarning those of you who will read this entry: I am biased. So now that I have warned you, let's get into this.
The NFLPA bargained in 2006 probably the best contract in all of professional sports. The membership actually gets a piece of the revenue that comes in the form of TV dollars. With most businesses claiming hardships during these rough economic times, corporations are looking for give backs from their employees, and now the NFL has joined that lot. This is an entity that hasn't suffered one bit. In terms of TV ratings, the last two Super Bowls are ranked 1 and 2 in the most watched programs. Ever. As in the history of television. Guess what that means for the NFL? Cha-Ching! They cashed in big time. During the last labor negotiations, the NFL and its owners bargained for $1B off the top of the profits that came in the door, and that's what they got. Now, they claim that $1B extra is needed. Well, if I am a player, my response would be, "Too bad." How can you claim economic hardship in the booming business of American Football? Especially since, football has never been watched more! This is not the NBA, where teams are in danger of contracting in their upcoming negotiations. This is not the Mets baseball organization, where ownership is being sued for $1B. This is not the least watched sports, hockey. The NFL is a $10B+ per year business. So not only do the owners and NFL want $2B off the top, they want to stretch the regular season from 16-18 games, while the players would get paid less on average.
If this means nothing to you, the fans, then consider this. Some organizations, the New York Jets for example, are sending their annual bill for season ticket holders while as of now, no games will be played in 2011. On top of that, they are furloughing non-essential employees one week out of every month while the NFL forced lock out is in effect. Still don't care? Still think the players are greedy? These players make millions of dollars, yes. These players get to do what they love, yes. They make a great living playing a game. But the owners make a killing on their talents. They sell hot dogs for $5. Beer for $9. Authentic jerseys are $200+. My season tickets cost $95 a game. And I sit in the third tier, row 12. They even charge us $25 for parking, and I have to park it myself, sometimes close to a mile away from the entrance. Notice, I haven't even said a word about TV rights yet, which total over $20B. Yes, billion. So when we say the players are greedy next time, let's not forget that they are fighting for the money that these owners make off of their talents
Now, although I support the players in this labor dispute, that is not to say that the NFLPA has had their share of jackkassery. Adrian Peterson recently referred to the NFL as common day slavery, which is an exaggeration at the very best. In reality, it is a gross, unintelligent, and ignorant comment, which he should be ashamed of. The only thing that I agree on with the NFL and its owners, is that the only way that we will see football this year, is if the NFLPA and the owners sit back down at the bargaining table to hammer out a deal. And it seems as if the only way the NFLPA will sit back down with the owners is if they open up their books to prove that they need extra money off the top of their $10+B mountain.
