Ratings are great. The appetite for NFL football seems endless. The money machine that NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle handed to Paul Tagliabue and Tagliabue handed to Roger Goodell is printing cash so fast all the Kinkos in the world wouldn’t be able to keep up.
Then why with all of the contract holdout, trade demands, and player troubles off of the gridiron does it feel like there is a storm ahead?
The CBA
The collective bargaining agreement is a negotiated contract between the NFLPA and the NFL owners.
The agreement covers topics such as the distribution of league revenues, player health and safety standards, pensions, and medical costs incurred during a career playing professional football.
The current CBA
The current agreement was reached between the players association and ownership in 2011. It was reached after a 2011 lockout and court-ordered mediation. Due to expire at the end of the 2020 season, fans should expect to see a lot of posturing from both sides over the next year.
Inmates Running The Asylum
It truly isn’t fair to refer to the players as inmates in an asylum. The players are the product. The owners provide the structure in which these incredible athletes can perform. The play on the field is what puts butts in the seats, not billionaires sitting in a luxury box.
The 2019 season has just started and already there have been numerous trade demands. Several players held out of their contract in pursuit of greener pastures. An entire team in Miami full of players seeking trades. Player agents are advising their clients to be prepared for a possible work stoppage.
As the product on the field continues to flourish, the foundation on which it is built is showing cracks.
The Fan’s Perspective
NFL fans stand around the water cooler and discuss this player getting a 100+ million dollar contract, or that player refusing to play for the franchise offer they were tendered. They understand the salary cap but not how general managers run it. They just want their teams to be competitive and have little sympathy for a player who decides that the contract they signed to play may no longer compensate them fully.
The owners continue to get larger chunk of broadcasting, merchandising, and stadium revenues. The player contracts run into the stratosphere. Nobody has asked the fans what they can really afford to be able to take their families out to a game. At times it just feels like a major breakdown in communication between all parties.
What Is Right
Player safety has come to the forefront. Just because these athletes chose an entertainment profession that can be so violent should not discount their long term health.
The salary cap has made parity in the league one of its strongest components.
There are so many moving parts to a collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA the voice of the players and Park Avenue the voice of the owners. There will always be push-and-pull.
What’s Next
Is the ending CBA part of the reason for all of the early season drama? Are players flexing their muscle in preparation for the battle to come? Will the future see a work stoppage before a deal can be made?
The truth might be that nobody on either side has a clue as to the direction this will go.
For now, football fans will tune in, and tune out. Enjoy the 2019 season that holds so much promise. As of today there are absolutely no teams yet mathematically eliminated from the postseason.
Are you ready for some football?
