Who is to blame for the NFL labor strife?

The NFL team owners, players, and most of all the fans face a big problem, and that is a looming lockout that threatens the 2011 NFL season. These two sides continue a war of words that seems to escalate each and every day, and the fans that make all of this possible are not represented in any part of this process. All three sides need to come to this conclusion without the fans, there is nothing. Without the players there is no league, and without the league there is no chance for these players to make the kind of living that they already do. With that said let us see who is to blame for this mess:

It is the player’s fault- The players union has really over simplified every argument that have brought up. They say the league has already asked the players to cut their pay by 18%; the real truth is that 18% is just the available pool of revenue used to pay the players. Salaries in the NFL are hardly down. They also claim that the NFL is a not for profit business. Anyone who has been to a NFL game lately knows that this assertion is rubbish at best.

It is the Owner’s fault- Yup, instead of treating the players union like a partner (and that is essentially what it is) they say feel sorry for us, we are losing money, but we will not open up our books for you to verify that. Sure many teams like the Detroit Lions or Jacksonville Jaguars are losing money due to poor attendance, or stadium construction debt. It seems hard to believe that they are losing big money, but some of the teams clearly are.

In the end a compromise must be reached. Currently the players get 60% of all football related revenue. It seems that the NFL should give the players a bigger percentage of the revenue streams they affect directly. I am talking of course of TV money, and tickets sales. In return the players give the owners a rookie salary cap (that would limit their exposure to untested players), and take their hands out of some of the revenue streams like concession and merchandise sales. It really seems like there is a fair way to settle this, before we fans lose the thing we love, Football.

Related Links:

• The Business of the NFL
• NFL Complete.com