The State of the Union

Featuring the NFLPA and NFL Owners Association.

Obama’s State of the Union Address and the State of the NFL, Owners and Players Union all have a lot in common.

Namely . . .

Hope: 

Obama is full of it and he wants us to be too.  He actually means well, works hard and is calling for everyone to work together to turn things around and continue on the road to recovery.

The NFL owners, players and fans hope there is a 2011 season and in reality the owners and players need to come together and get this whole CBA thing worked out.

Jobs:

Obama says we need to create more and that the landscape has changed.

The NFL says the players need to do more and that there should be 18 game seasons.

The players want to keep theirs and say that a lock out will cost some markets $160 million in lost economic jobs.

The fans just want everybody to do theirs.

Money

Everybody wants more.

The owners say they are no longer profitable, are losing money and the rookie salaries are out of control.

The players say they are not as profitable as the current agreement says they are and that there are hidden costs to their profession.

The fans don’t want to lose out on the chance to bet on games and win fantasy football pools, oh and are tired of everyone else complaining they don’t have enough.

Health Care

The owners say they are concerned about the players well being and safety

The players say sacrifice their bodies for the job and that the cost(s) stay with them and only get worse after their careers are over and often are unable to get proper care.

The fans don’t want the game to become nothing more than flag football or two hand touch.

Transparency and accountability

The players say if you are losing so much money and are no longer profitable, prove it and open up your books.

The owners say “No way”.

The fans say both sides are blowing smoke and need to be held accountable.

First of all, neither side has owned up to the whole truth.

Politifact has proven that the $160 million statement made by the NFLPA is bogus.

A study was made (as best as possible) that the owners are full of it when they say they are no longer profitable under the current agreement.

AND

That the players union is basically right when they say the players are not getting the total percentage of profits as stated in the current agreement.

AND

That strangely enough rookie salaries are not out of control.

The current state of the Union and negotiations is a Stalemate and this benefit nobody!

The two sides have yet to sit down and do any serious negotiations.  In fact just about the only thing that has happened is lots of finger pointing, digging in, getting ready for a lockout, and name calling.

Now for the Fumbled Returns Analysis:

IMHO:

The NFLPA is screwed, has the most to lose, and needs to step up to the plate and earnestly start negotiations.   Of course, this will not really start to happen, at least publicly, until the 11^th hour.

The owners really are rich and if there is a lock out, yes they lose out on all the additional revenue from ticket sales and merchandise but they don’t have any salaries to pay out either.  Plus, they have a signed sealed and delivered TV contract in place that guarantees them millions upon millions over the next several years.

And as you may have heard, the union has the desertification trick up their sleeve but this is a double edge sword.

If the NFLPA were to decertify, it would, in effect, operate as a trade organization but cease to be a union. If the league then tried to lock out players, the NFLPA could sue the NFL under U.S. antitrust laws and contend the league was conducting a group boycott, which is illegal. It could not sue the NFL if it remained a union with collective-bargaining authority for its members, under the labor exemption to antitrust laws

Although there are advantages to the union decertifying, namely allowing it to gain access to the antitrust laws, there are disadvantages as well. Not only would the NFLPA not be able to collectively bargain for its members, it could not bring grievances for them and could not compel them to pay dues or control their marketing rights. When the union decertified in 1989, the league and the NFLPA, acting as a trade association, competed with each other for players’ marketing and licensing rights.

If a lock out occurs, The Owners will come out looking as the bad guys.

The players will be hurting financially.

And the fans will be pissed.

So, what to do?

In the spirit of U.S Activism, and political / constitutional rights, I urged every fan to at the very least voice their opinion to the NFL, NFLPA, and heck even congress.  They tend to stay out of stuff like this but hey, in tough economic times, who knows, it just might become a point of interest for them politically.

There are also various sites and petitions you can sign up with such as savenextseason.com  and the sports fan coalition (which btw is heavily funded by media companies like cable and Verizon).

To borrow a state of the union phrase from Obama, “we will move forward together”.