Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
They agreed to a schedule to be off the 50/50 for three seasons (I think) but an adjustment going forward that trues it up to 50/50.
Friedman said the same on 960 today.
So yeah 50/50.
|
I didn’t hear the interview but if Friedman thinks there is a mechanism within this MOU that guarantees the players and owners will have a 50/50 split during the life of this CBA extension he’s mistaken. The MOU itself even has a clause to add an additional season if the players have made between $125M and $250M more than what the 50/50 split would have been throughout this extension.
In other words if the league has made at least within $125M of or over $250M away from 50% of HRR by the end of the second to last season of this agreement, they will have one last season with escrow capped at 6% in which to recoup any outstanding losses. If they don’t, the CBA will expire and the league will be stuck with those losses. While I’m sure it would be a major discussion item in the next round of negotiations the players would not by any means be obligated to pay for those losses.
Quote:
There are mechanisms to give the players more in the meantime, and I think that is what they want to adjust. I think they may have assumed a full season, or perhaps 50% crowds ... don't know.
But 60% isn't bad if the league is going to pull in 35%.
|
Whether people agree or not, how much the players make matters more to them than ensuring a 50/50 revenue split with the owners. Otherwise they would have just agreed to extend the previous CBA and let escrow take care of it.
The more the league lowers the value of playing, the more I can see players opting to sit out and wait for things to normalize rather than risk injury playing for close to half of what they would otherwise be making. Career risks aside, given in to the league’s demands here would also set a horrible precedent in their bargaining relationship with the league. I think that is something a lot of people are missing in all of this, the league has basically put the players in a spot where even if they want to consider doing this because they believe the league isn’t bluffing, they basically can’t because it would signal to the league that anytime they want to renegotiate something midway through a CBA’s term all they would have to do is threaten to cancel the upcoming season.