By John Lichina
With another season in the books, the National Football League recently enjoyed the highest television ratings in Super Bowl history and is already looking ahead to next season. With the upcoming season looming, the much talked about possibility of the impending lockout is becoming a reality.
The preparations for next football season are set to begin in less than a month and the NFL owners and Players Association have hit a standstill on how exactly their eight billion dollars in profit will be distributed.
That’s a lot of money, and it doesn’t look to be coming down anytime soon. With both sides still in a deadlock with no agreement in sight, a labor lockout is looking more likely with each passing day.
In combination with the financial issues that exist between the two sides, there are other conflicts that remain. There has been talk of extending the season from 16 to 18 games. Players are opposed to the addition and believe that the season should remain the same length.
To me, this issue is not pertinent at the time being. With the NFL threatened with the absence of a season, is it really debating over two or more games? Prioritizing is something mothers teach their children before they send them off into the world and yet we have grown men arguing about miniscule issues. This to me questions the motives of the team owners.
While fighting for their well-being on the field, it is also in the players’ best interest to ensure that their income is there for another year. We may not look at it like this, but this sport is the source of income for many hard working men.
If a lockout was to occur in the upcoming season, players would have to wave goodbye to those paychecks for an entire year. With this knowledge, owners will attempt to use this information to force their will upon the Players Association. It seems as if all concepts of a business relationship have gone out the window, which does not bode well for the upcoming season.
In recent days, NFL owners and the Players Association have cancelled meetings because the sides are so far apart. This is not how grown men should handle a situation. One would think that these men are more mature than that. Just last week, the owners walked out of a meeting after the NFLPA proposed a 50-50 split of profits. It doesn’t get fairer than that, yet they still couldn’t come to terms.
The NFL Players Association will continue to fight to get what they want, as they should. It is the owners that may need to better understand the word “collective” when it comes to collaborating on the bargaining agreement and on the future of the upcoming season.
