As I watch the NFL lockout situation, I keep shaking my head at why it has gotten to this point. I am a huge NFL fan, watch games as much as time allows, know the history of the game and love it, and I am just amazed that the powers that be in the NFLPA and the owners can't get this straightened out and avoid a lockout or, even worse, canceling games in the fall.
I had just graduated from high school in 1981 when I moved to my brother's house a few miles from Milwaukee County Stadium. I would stay there for the summer to finish playing baseball after my senior year, and I planned to go to as many Brewers games as I possibly could. Ticket prices then were very low- as I remember it, outfield bleacher tickets were about $5 per game, so I could have easily made 25-30 games that summer around our baseball games and practices. I really loved baseball. Then it all changed- the players and the baseball owners couldn't agree on a contract, so there was a player strike and the games that summer were canceled. I was seriously disappointed, but found other ways to spend my free time, and life went on. However, for about 15 years, I didn't follow major league baseball, didn't go out of my way to go to a game or watch it on tv, and just really didn't care about the game very much. That 1981 strike just turned me off from major league baseball.
As our boys grew up and got to baseball playing age, I returned to the sport to coach them, and we even went to a few Astros and Rangers games. But I never forgot how the players/owners back in 1981 had let me down, and I took our kids to LSU baseball games, which we really enjoyed. I have been to a few MLB games over the past 15 years, but my passion in sports is now definitely football- college or pro, I don't care. It was a great joy for me to see the Packers win this Super Bowl, after all the adversity they had to work through during the season. What a great game.
Now I see that the NFL owners and the players are about to go through a lockout, where the players won't be able to be in the team facilities or even to meet with their coaches or coordinators. It's one of the dumbest things I have seen- the NFL is clearly the premier sports league in the world, there is plenty of money to be made by owners and players alike, and they are squabbling like little kids on a playground.
When I look at the issues that the league seem to be unable to agree on, I become even more amazed. The first is revenue distribution, and presently the $9.3 billion (that's right- billion dollars!) in revenue in 2010 was split with roughly 14% to the league to grow the game (like a franchise fee that McDonald's or Subway owners pay), 57% to the players' salaries (labor costs), and remainder to the owners. That's about $3.3 billion to the owners, and they want another billion dollars of the pie from the players in this new contract. How have the owners been making it in the past with their share? Why the sudden new need for an extra billion dollars? Seems like that could be worked out, with the owners realizing they have a great thing going, and that they shouldn't mess it up by arguing over money like they are. Advantage: Players.
The second issue is the owners' desire to move to an 18 game season. Presently the teams play 4 exhibition games and 16 regular season games. The exhibition games, with the exception of the final one, usually only require the veterans to play a half or so, in order to play and evaluate the rookies and newcomers to the teams. By adding two regular season games, the owners evidently see additional concession and tv revenue for the longer season, and the players see more wear and tear on their bodies from the extra games, with no additional money coming in to them in the form of salary or for their long term medical care. The league has already moved beginning in 1978 from a 14 game to a 16 game season, and the Super Bowl is now being played in February. There can be too much of a good thing- if the owners are smart, they'll realize that they don't want to water down their game by starting regular season games before kids have even gone back to school in the fall. Advantage: Players.
The third issue is a rookie wage scale, and after the Ryan Leaf escapade and others over the years who have gotten huge rookie salaries and not performed well, this seems likely to pass. Really, why should a college player be given a $50 million contract with $25 or $30 million guaranteed, before he has played one down in the league? I can see the wisdom in this: some players who teams think are "can't miss" draft choices are human and can miss, and that pool of player money should realistically go to veterans who have proven themselves in the league. Advantage: Owners.
The last issue is the ability of teams to recover bonus money paid to players if the player violate the law or the league personal conduct policy, and this issue becomes somewhat complicated. The NFL players' only "guaranteed" money is their bonus, and that fact is one that makes the league so great. Players have to produce or they are gone- it's survival of the fittest and "produce or perish" at its best. However, unlike players' salaries in baseball and basketball, NFL salaries are, for the most part, not guaranteed. This issue is probably one that should result in both sides giving a little, and one that probably should be negotiated to a resolution. However, it's not a season killer- get in a room and get to an agreement! Advantage: Draw.
So there is my take on the NFL strike. I hope that they get this worked out so that the players and coaches can start working together on the practice field and in the meeting rooms as soon as possible, as the game is very complex today and much time goes into things like developing timing and getting all the players on the same page with their teammates. If the lockout continues for any length of time, the game (and the product on the field this fall) will suffer, and it may take years to get it back to what it was last season. The NFL is clearly the superior sports league in the world right now- please don't mess it up!!
