CBA Union Talks Negotiations | NFL Owners vs Players for Dummies

The NFL team owners and the NFL Players Association Union are in a battle over a contract that could cancel the NFL season next year if the two sides cannot reach an agreement. The bottom line of the disagreement: money!

The NFL team owners want to keep what they have and take more from the yearly revenue and the NFL players want their fair share and a better retirement fund.It is the Billionaires fighting with the Millionaires for the "spoils."

NFL fans everywhere want this resolved. Fans want their NFL football! The fans are the reason that owners have their teams and the reason the players have a job to begin with. Without the fans, there would be no NFL or any of the money they are fighting over. As the comedian Larry the Cable Guy would say to the NFL: “Get ‘er Done!”

There are 4 key components to the great divide between the owners and the players. Negotiations have continued past the original deadline of the existing contract.

The owners and players union have both agreed to continue deliberations to try and resolve these issues. The use of a federal mediator has been helpful thus far and hopefully will bring the two parties together to reach a beneficial settlement.

The key Issues:

• -Division of NFL Revenue
• -Expansion from 16-18 regular season games
• -Rookie wage scale
• -Retirement benefits

The NFL owners want complete control of the NFL money; the Big C.E.O. of the Business. The players are the employees that make moo-la for the big wigs!

It appears the NFL owners want to be the Business Corporation like any other Industry who blesses it's employees with the scraps from the table.

The Players Union represents the NFL players and says this is not acceptable. The NFLPA has proposed what they want (and their monetary cut as well) or they will not go back to work for the owners.

The Owners had a "secret deal with TV networks" set up to where they would still get their money in the event of a players lock-out. The Players Union found out and took them to court and now the Owners may not be able to access the money and hold this over the players head to force concessions as thought.

"March 1st, Minnesota-8th Circuit Court-The Judge ruled that the owners would not be able to keep the 4 billion dollar "war chest" of television money as lock-out insurance next year."

The ruling is a major factor for the players. This feud between the owners and the players could cause the NFL football season in 2011 to be delayed or even canceled. The NFL Fan is left out in the cold with no football.

The NFL is a multi-billion dollars industry. It has become the most widely watched sport on television worldwide. The past two Super Bowl broadcasts have been the number 1 and 2 watched event in TV history.

At a time when the NFL is at the top of profits, greed raises its ugly head and the war has begun for the money. The owners want to keep the profits for themselves and the players want a bigger piece of the pie.

This is insulting to the fans of the NFL. The owners and players squabble over billions of dollars while Americans all across the country are struggling to buy food for their families. If football is for the fans as the owners and players proclaim when in front of a TV camera, then they should show the fans by actions.

The fans of the NFL are the ones who ultimately pay for the greed of the NFL. Ticket prices for the football games have reached a point where the lower to mid income fan can only hope to watch the football games on TV. And forget the thought of purchasing a Super Bowl ticket, there is no way it is affordable.

The NFL pulls in an estimated 9 billion dollars last year. The owners get 1 billion from the top before it is spread out. The owners want 2 billion, say they need the extra cash for stadiums and expenses.

NFL Players want proof! Open your account books and how us why you need the extra billion. The owners refuse to show their profits and expenses.

Players want their share of the profits. The players want more money for their retirement and disability insurance coverage.

The money is there, now the fight over who will get the money; Owners or the Players share!

The NFL team owners want to expand the NFL regular season schedule to 18 games from 16. To do this they would cut the preseason football schedule games to 2 instead of the currently 4 games. The 2 added regular season football games would generate more revenue for the owners and in turn for the players.

The issue with this for the players is the wear and tear on them physically and the injuries to players.The addition of more games would put the players at a risk more more injuries.

The game of football has become more physical over the years and the number of serious injuries has risen greatly. The 2010 football season saw a record number of reported concussions to players.

The players are standing firm against the move to add more football games to the regular season. This is one issue where the owners may be willing to back off from if the players will bend on other issues.

The NFL now plays 4 preseason games and 16 regular season games each year. Owners are not making enough money from preseason games since they are only games for rookie, undrafted or old cut players to try-out for a team.

These are boring so fans do not fill the stadiums (spend money) for these games. The owners also charge the same price for preseason games as regular season games. Owners want to take 2 preseason games away and add 2 regular season games to make more money. Fans will pay for a football games that means something!

The Players are saying, “Hold on, what do we get for this?” The players do not agree with this. The players are worried about injuries and time off in the off season to heal and rest up. Players want larger rosters added and an additional “bye week” in the schedule.

The contracts of Rookie players entering the NFL have gotten out of hand. Each year the price tag reaches higher and higher. The NFL team owners are going after this part of the contract. Teams have been burned in the past with Top Draft players who receive multi-million dollar contracts that turned out to be a “bust” and cost teams money that could have been better spent on current rosters.

Ryan Leaf, Jamarcus Russell and Brian Bosworth are 3 of the most recognizable names that received millions of dollars in “guaranteed money” as well as yearly contracts and flopped in performances. Owners want to fix this problem with the NFL Draft of Rookie players.

The NFL owners are seeking an arrangement similar to the NBA for Rookie players. A rookie salary cap could hold down the outrageous contracts for an unproven player and lessen the harm to the team if the players do not perform as expected.

One of the biggest opponents to this is the NFL players Agent. The Sports Agent negotiates the contract between the drafted player and the NFL team. The more the contract is the more commission to the Agent.

The money saved from the exorbitant rookie contracts and guarantees could be well spent on established players, free agency and retirement funds for retired players.

A Drafted Rookie should not get more money upfront than a current player since he has done absolutely nothing to earn it yet! Remember Jamarcus Russell or Ryan Leaf? They got millions of dollars and long contracts and flopped big time.

Why should a rookie player get this type of money on a “guess” about him? This has to go! There needs to be a “work-your-way-up” type pay scale. The Sports Agent of course cries. “Foul!” He loses this commission.

Where would the saved money go? The owners want it for themselves. ( Imagine that!) The players want the savings added to retirement and disability funds.

Pension plans, Disability plans and the NFL contribution is a major factor for the players. The Players Association wants the Team Owners to add more funds for the care of retired and injured players after retirement.

Football is a violent sport and most players do not average a long career. Head and orthopedic injuries through the play of the game are on the rise and effect the quality of life after a player's career is ended. Pension and the orthopedic plans are not what the fans of the sport believe they are. Only a few of the players actually make millions of dollars a year. The rest make considerably less.

Teams make investments into a player and makes the billion dollar Industry successful. The player is injured and his career is over or retires when his time is over. The player should receive compensation from his input into the Team and Leagues success.

One way this could occur is for the money saved from a Rookie Wage Scale is to add the money saved to the Players Pension Plan. The NFLPA would like to see a percentage of the NFL profits used as a way to build up the players pensions.

The NFL players help to make the NFL a multi-billion dollar industry and have the scars and injuries to prove it. The NFL used the players for profits. The players has a career ending injury or reaches retirement (in NFL years) and is left at the mercy of the retirement/disability fund the NFL has in place.

The players want the NFL team owners to use the money saved from over-paying rookies and the increased profits of the League to be added to their retirement fund and disability plans. Why should the billionaire team owners put more money in their wallets and forget the players who made them that money?

Corporate Greed in America is tearing down this great nation. The corporate leaders seek more power and money. The labor force is walked upon and trodden down for the benefit of those in control. “Business is business and it’s not personal” is the excuse we all hear.

NFL football has become one of the greatest American sport institutions in the world. Evidence is the TV ratings of the football games and the lucrative contracts that TV networks are willing to shell out to televise the games.

We the fans of our beloved professional football are now witnesses to a battle of power and control of the financial gains by the NFL team owners against the players.

The threats of a player lock out by the team owners and cancellation of the coming football season has not garnered any favor with the fans. Especially since it was uncovered that the NFL had made a contractual deal with the TV networks that they would still be able to access millions of dollars from the contract agreement in the event of a lock out and the season is canceled and the players would do without.

The reality that we the fans must wake up to is; the NFL today has turned into a Financial Empire that is about the bottom line in profitability to a majority of the owners. The wins and losses matter to the owners when it affects the money spent by the fans and endorsements.

The NFL needs to settle their dispute with the best interest of the sport of football, the team and the fan. Without the fans the NFL would not exist. The business idea that NFL Fans will “take whatever we give them and still pay for it” is not a practical business plan.

The boisterous belief that fans will understand the greed and arrogance of the NFL battle and stand behind the Owners and Players is not a wise choice. The American public is fed up with the greed and corruption in Corporate America. To place professional football in this same light will not bold well for the image of the NFL.

The fans want their NFL football come this fall. It is time to remember that We the Fans are the ones who ultimately pay your checks; owners and players!