The upcoming National Football League lockout will be dependent on who will buckle first, the National Football League Players Association, or the team owners.
League owners are looking for more bang for their buck, while disregarding issues that the players are concerned about. Among these issues is the proposal by league owners to create an 18-game regular season.
The proposal by the owners would get rid two of the four pre-season games, converting them into contests that will affect the standings. The NFLPA takes the stance that extending the regular season would cause a greater amount of injury.
There was an internal deadline set by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith regarding a new collective bargaining agreement."That deadline has now passed," Smith said to the players in a letter on December 4, 2010. "It is important that you protect yourself and your family."
The players' union is completely right in its stand. Esquire's Dangers of the Game released a report after last NFL season revealing the statistics about players injuries over the past couple seasons. The report states, “injury severity increases from the pre-season to the regular season, and from the regular season to the post season.”
Major injury is more likely to occur during a game, and during the pre-season the chance for major injury is 21.4 per cent. During the regular season, the major injury percentage goes up to 23.2 per cent, and takes a hard spike up during the post season to 31.9 per cent.
It makes sense, as the season progresses, that players tack different ailments onto their bodies every week and something has to give. The players' union believes that owners do not care about their players and are more focused on the almighty dollar than the well being of their main asset. James Harrison, linebacker of the Pittsburgh Steelers said of the 18-game season proposal on Feb. 3: “It’s nothing about player safety. It’s about them making money.”
The proposal by the owners would get rid two of the four pre-season games, converting them into contests that will affect the standings. The NFLPA takes the stance that extending the regular season would cause a greater amount of injury.
There was an internal deadline set by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith regarding a new collective bargaining agreement."That deadline has now passed," Smith said to the players in a letter on December 4, 2010. "It is important that you protect yourself and your family."
The players' union is completely right in its stand. Esquire's Dangers of the Game released a report after last NFL season revealing the statistics about players injuries over the past couple seasons. The report states, “injury severity increases from the pre-season to the regular season, and from the regular season to the post season.”
Major injury is more likely to occur during a game, and during the pre-season the chance for major injury is 21.4 per cent. During the regular season, the major injury percentage goes up to 23.2 per cent, and takes a hard spike up during the post season to 31.9 per cent.
It makes sense, as the season progresses, that players tack different ailments onto their bodies every week and something has to give. The players' union believes that owners do not care about their players and are more focused on the almighty dollar than the well being of their main asset. James Harrison, linebacker of the Pittsburgh Steelers said of the 18-game season proposal on Feb. 3: “It’s nothing about player safety. It’s about them making money.”
He is right in saying this, however, the owners can weather a year without football but a lot of the fringe NFLers cannot.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has gone public on his Twitter account and promised that if the lockout does occur, he will cut his salary to $1 until a resolution is reached. Problem is, Goodell has enough money to make that promise, keep it, and still live a very rich life.
Between the 2004 and 2009 seasons, 16,552 injuries occurred in the NFL, or 1.5 injuries per player, with over 50 per cent happening during regular season games. Another two games would increase the risk of injury to the players, and if every player has a one-in-seven chance of having surgery every year, adding two games creates a bigger risk for players.
What the owners should consider is a proposal that the NFLPA offered earlier on in the collective bargaining agreement talks. The proposal offered an 18-game season with two bye weeks -- as opposed to the one bye week players get now-- roster expansion from 53 to 57 players, and a lower game minimum for players to receive post-career health insurance and pension plans.
What makes the owner’s decision so perplexing is that lockouts are not good for any sport. The National Hockey League’s 04-05 lockout caused significant damage in the USA in terms of interest and television revenue. Although it has recovered somewhat, and with a salary cap the league is more competitive, it still had a full year without the sport, which is never a good thing as if it’s out of sight, then, for the casual fan, it’s out of mind.
The NFL is the premier sports organization in North America and an extended lockout would hurt both the owners and the players more than they expect. The NFL revenue for 2010 was $7.8 billion according to Plunkett Research Ltd., and the next closest competitor was baseball at $6.8 billion. If the NFL goes to an extended lockout, it will open a new revenue stream for the other sports leagues.
This begs the question, are the owners and players stubborn enough to allow this to happen?
Owners want to make money, and the best way to do that is to have the players play next season instead of locking down their facilities. While there should be a compromise, the owners need to step up and accept that the players have leverage in negotiations, because without them the NFL is not a league.
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2 comments:
Every season have different winning streak.
In my opinion, injuries are what's keeping NFL seasons from being more active and exciting. Maybe we should take another look at the rules and make the game less likely to cause injury.
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