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NFL Lockout News

AGurv

By AGurv
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AGurv

AGurv

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Sources: NFL-union talks canceled EmailPrintComments 57 ESPN.com news services Talks scheduled for Thursday in Washington between the NFL and its players' union have been canceled, league sources told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Future Of The League In a guest column, NFL rep Greg Aiello outlines the league's problems with the CBA and ways to fix the system as the game moves forward. Story With the CBA expiring on March 3, NFLPA executive George Attallah breaks down how the players and the union view the crucial talks. Story • Sando: 10 things to know The two sides are so far apart that Wednesday's meeting in Washington broke up prior to Thursday's cancellation of discussions, according to one of those sources, who said the sides can't agree on how to split an additional $1 billion in revenue. The current collective bargaining agreement expires in three weeks. "We are not confirming, denying, or commenting on CBA meetings at this point. We are focused on finding a way to get an agreement," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told ESPN. Wednesday's session was the second in five days, with the previous negotiations taking place in Dallas on Saturday. Neither side would comment on what was discussed or how fruitful Saturday's talks were. On Sunday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the two-hour meeting with the players' union was "beneficial." "It's always a positive when both parties are talking," Goodell said. "My focus is on the next three or four weeks. I've often said, our agreement expires [at midnight] on March 4. We have to use that period of time to reach an agreement that's fair for the players, fair for the clubs, and allows our great game to grow for our fans." In an interview Sunday with ESPN Radio's "Mike and Mike in the Morning," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said it was a "good meeting" but added, "I don't think anyone went into the meeting with the idea that we were going to build Rome in one day." Smith said the sides have been talking continually and it's probably better that the discussions are not publicized. Team owners opted out of the CBA in 2008. Goodell heavily emphasized during his Super Bowl news conference last week the urgency to get a deal done in the coming weeks. Smith has said he expects the owners to lock out the players after the CBA expires. Team owners want a bigger cut of the revenues, which are roughly $9 billion, as well as a rookie wage scale and to increase the regular season by two games to 18, dropping two preseason games. The players think those two extra games will cause a rise in injuries, although that issue appears more negotiable than giving back any percentage of the revenue pool. The league estimates there would be a cut in gross revenues of $120 million without a new agreement by early March; $350 million if there's no CBA by August, before the preseason starts; $1 billion if no new contract is in place until September. And if regular-season games are lost, the NFL figures the revenue losses would amount to about $400 million per week. The NFL has had labor peace since a 1987 players strike that led to three games with replacement players.
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TommyGold

TommyGold

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Re: NFL Lockout News More news: \

Sources: NFL-union talks canceled NFL owners walked away from the negotiating table Wednesday when the NFL Players Association proposed to take an average of 50 percent of all revenue generated by the league, according to player sources. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith briefed club player representatives in a conference call Wednesday night, detailing his version of the abbreviated session that ended far earlier than the seven hours that were scheduled between the two sides in an effort to reach a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires at midnight March 3. Consequently, a five-hour second negotiating session scheduled for Thursday was canceled, and no further meetings have been proposed. Also, the NFL notified teams and owners Thursday that a scheduled owners meeting in Philadelphia next Tuesday has been canceled, sources told ESPN.com's John Clayton. "We wish we were negotiating today," NFLPA assistant executive director George Atallah said. "That's all I can say." Wednesday's meeting in Washington started badly, one source said, when the owners' negotiating team interpreted the union's proposal of a 49 percent to 51 percent take as "total revenue," instead of the union's intended percentage take of "all revenue." At the current revenue levels, "total revenue" has been defined as an estimated $9 billion gross, minus a $1 billion credit in the owners' favor. In the current CBA deal about to expire, the union's share has been estimated at about 60 percent of $8 billion, once the $1 billion credit was subtracted. Owners have asked for an additional $1 billion credit -- or $2 billion in total -- before they split "total revenue" with players. Smith has stated that the union would need to examine all of the owners' financial books before it would accept a substantial reduction in allowing the additional $1 billion credit. To simplify talks, a player source said the union told the owners' negotiating team that it will forgo its request to examine the league's financial books by simply taking the flat 50 percent cut of "all revenue," which would eliminate $1 billion to $2 billion credits off the top and erase the definition of "total revenue." A union source said that if the NFLPA accepted the owners' current proposal, it would receive a little more than 40 percent of all revenue. Smith said in an interview with ESPN last week that a 40 percent to 42 percent share of all revenue would represent the smallest percentage of a players' share by any professional sports union. In addition to the flat 50 percent share of all revenue, players are willing to grant additional credits to any franchise that reinvests in stadium improvement, a mechanism to motivate clubs to grow revenues, a player source said. The union believes by taking a flat 50 percent share, it would eliminate the need to audit every expense clubs invest in order to offset credits built into the current CBA and the model proposed by owners going forward. Smith also sent an e-mail, obtained by ESPN, to NFL agents on Thursday outlining the owners' latest rookie wage-scale proposal in January. He detailed how far apart the two sides are, and in an attached memo dated Jan. 26, said the NFL's latest proposal "is a veteran scale, not a rookie scale." The NFL's owners continued to propose a five-year wage scale for first-rounders, four years for other drafted players, and no individually negotiated contracts. But, according to Smith, the owners added "league-wide base salary escalators." Smith wrote that the owners' latest offer "makes the proposal worse not only for rookies, but for veteran players with three to five years in the league -- the core of our membership." Also, players would not be able to renegotiate their contracts or agree to extensions until three years after they were drafted. Signing bonuses would be fixed, paid over the length of a contract and subject to forfeiture "if the player does not toe the Club's line in every way," Smith wrote. In late September, the NFLPA proposed maximum four-year contracts for players drafted in the first three rounds, and three-year contracts for other drafted players. The NFLPA's proposal also provided for individually negotiated contracts instead of the owners' proposed set salaries. In addition, a cap would be placed on rookie contract incentives and escalators. The money saved then would be used for a bonus pool for veteran players and rookies who outperformed their contract. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said: "Despite the inaccurate characterizations of yesterday's meeting, out of respect to the collective bargaining process and our negotiating partner, we are going to continue to conduct negotiations with the union in private and not engage in a point-counterpoint on the specifics of either side's proposals or the meeting process. Instead, we will work as hard as possible to reach a fair agreement by March 4. We are fully focused on that goal." Meanwhile, the NFLPA continued to present its side of the argument to the public. The union was a guest of American Rights at Work, which brought in a beer vendor from Ford Field in Detroit as part of a news conference in the nation's capital aimed at demonstrating the effects a lockout would have on the economy. "Football and other major sporting events are some of the only things that bring people to downtown Detroit after 5 p.m.," said John Marler, who has worked at the stadium since 2007. Kimberly Freeman Brown, executive director of American Rights at Work, said the NFL and union are fussing over many of the same issues faced by many workers: pay cuts, longer working hours, workplace safety and health care. She said a lockout would have an impact on 150,000 jobs and cause more than $160 million in lost revenue in every city with an NFL team. She called a potential work stoppage "something that could potentially have devastating consequences on our quality of life and our mental health." "For many fans, football is just that deep to us," Brown said. Atallah defended the union's public relations tactics. "It is important for us to stand with the people who are here on this panel, not for any publicity issue or publicity stunt," Atallah said. "This is real life for us. This is a reality that these people face."
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TommyGold

TommyGold

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Re: NFL Lockout News Judge Grants Injunction to End N.F.L. Lockout Pending Appeal A federal judge gave professional football players a significant victory Monday, granting an injunction to stop the N.F.L.'s six-week lockout Monday. Judge Susan Richard Nelson of United States District Court did not stay her decision, sending the N.F.L scrambling to seek a stay from the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to prevent the league from having to open for business immediately. If the stay is not granted, the N.F.L. will have to put rules in place allowing players to return to work and free agency to open within days, creating a flurry of activity similar to the normal operations of an off-season. Teams will be allowed to hold workouts with players, players will be permitted to meet with trainers to rehabilitate injuries and coaches to study game film. Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/sports/football/26nfl.html?emc=na

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AGurv

AGurv

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Re: NFL Lockout News

Thanks AGurv' date=' If it was settled Mid July,any chance of a full season.[/quote'] Yes. Maybe a missed preseason game at best. Training camp usually starts in Mid July. Morris and Goodell spent all day together. Which is a good sign. I say this thing is done by July 8th
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TazaD

TazaD

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Re: NFL Lockout News Yeah, I still personally suspect that neither party wants to lose any games, and that a deadline deal will be done in the 20-odd days ahead before official camps start... ...although interesting the similarities to the MLB lock-out a few years back that obviously both parties are fully aware of... ...the fact that MLB is now better/stronger/more popular than ever before may be very good reason why my suspicions are off the mark, but honestly can't see it dragging on. Reports of NFLPA being pretty happy with individual rights/$%'s is a very good sign I would have thought... ...still fighting about some Free Agency details, but I'll be surprised if either side let that stand in the way of a full season. I'm more confident than not that I'll be on the GB/NO OVER 82.5 come opening week. :lol

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