Quote:
Originally Posted by Flames in 07
So basically players are allowed to strike. But the owners can't lock them out? Doesn't seem fair to me.
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The players aren't striking. They want to continue with the same rules as currently exist.
The owners opted out of the current agreement early (as was their right).
The players want to keep the status quo, but if they are going to be asked to give up something, they want something back in return. If they agree to a rookie salary cap, the players still want the same amount of payroll. The owners want a rookie cap but want to be able to pocket a portion of the savings. If the owners want an 18 game regular season, the players want additional health and pension benefits. (This is how the argument was framed before the most recent discussions)
Essentially the owners want to get a larger share of the revenue. Some of the smaller market teams have been complaining about their share, saying the TV revenue split is nice, but they can't generate the same gate revenue; so with overall revenues going up and players' share going up with it, small market owners are essentially going backwards as far as revenue goes.
Other owners have complained that a large reason for some of the revenue increase is the new stadiums they have built. This has increased the revenue, which increases the players' share, but new stadiums are ultra-expensive and so they want a much larger portion of revenues to pay for these
The players are saying a large portion of NFL revenue is from TV contracts and if the owners can't agree how to split those billions of dollars, the players don't want to make up the difference from their own paycheques. Owners say they have franchises losing money, players see billion dollar TV contracts and say they won't believe it unless they can see the books. In the mean time, players are learning more and more about the long term health costs in their already short professional careers and don't want to give up anything since they are the ones shredding their knees and turning their brains to mush.
Bottom line is there is billions of dollars and both sides, who are both already wealthy.
I think the final offers sounds pretty good, but that offer was leaked from the owners' side and you shouldn't trust any info leaked in the middle of a negotiation, especially there public perception is being courted. The owners' knew the players' had a hard deadline for them to file for decertification. Why did the owners stand up the players' negotiating team the night before then wait until the last second (or even too late, depending upon who you want to believe) to table the offer?
Everything you have heard and will hear until there is a final settlement will be posturing.