NFL Players In a Lockout

As of this weekend, NFL Players are in a lockout. With labor contract extensions as a hope to successful negotiations, such negotiations have failed. I am not a hardcore NFL fan, but I’m writing about the labor negotiation from an economic perspective. After all, the NFL is a business, owners are employers and players are employees. This tends to get lost amongst the sports fanaticism and “celebritization” (it’s not a word but you know what I mean) of players. According to Matthew Futterman in “NFL Girds For Fight, Says Loss is Covered”, a lockout means

“[end of]  all off-season workouts and off-season pay immediately. The drafting of college players will still take place next month, but without a resolution, training camps won’t open in July and the season won’t start on schedule in September.”

While the distribution of $9.3 billion in revenue is the issue of the dispute, the article has stated that NFL owners are financial stable to handle a season cancellation. Unfortunately, the dispute has brought to the light the reality that some NFL players don’t make the millions of dollars that their celebrity image suggests. Some players may not be financially ready for an unemployed season.

The players union has decertified as a means to “file an antitrust suit against the league” and prevent a lockout. While famous players are the lead plaintiffs, keep in mind that plaintiffs’ names have been placed in alphabetical order. With a last name like Brady, Tom Brady leads the list of plaintiffs but many players are listed.

I’m going to try and keep up with the details of the news. I have known about the lockout but until this week, I continued to find articles written from a fan’s perspective and not a detailed business/ labor one. Now, articles are giving more details about the dispute but they are still listed under sports; I get most of my news from the business section. I want to find an article listing the financial ramifications, from commercials to endorsements to municipal (host city) economics, of a cancelled season. When I get that, I will be sure to share.

My quick opinion on the dispute is going to sound very similar to what has already been said. The NFL makes enough money to settle this dispute. Owners benefit well from the NFL and for players to ask for financial audits to justify higher owner revenue is fair. Owners may not get hurt from a canceled season but, players, host cities (considering economic state of major cities) , and fans are.