AP: NFL heads toward labor showdown

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100126/AP0405/301269944

By BARRY WILNER AP Football Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Rich, powerful and more popular than ever, the NFL gets closer to a doomsday scenario every day.

Without a deal in the next five weeks to preserve the labor peace that has lasted since a bad month in 1987 - anybody remember scab football? - next season will have no salary cap. That means richer teams such as the Redskins and Patriots will be able to far outspend clubs such as Jacksonville and Buffalo for free agents, while the Jaguars and Bills might try to pinch pennies to stay in business.

And if no deal can be reached next season, that uncapped, maybe less competitive year will be followed by no NFL at all in 2011. Stay tuned as the nation's most lucrative and most watched sport heads into the Great Unknown.

"It looks very bleak to get a (deal) done before March of this year or the beginning of the new NFL season," says Titans center Kevin Mawae, president of the players' union.

"We're going to continue to try. ... Until we come to some terms of what's really important and what are the big issues in this deal it's going to be tough to get something done.

"The players are more united than ever before, and we're preparing for a lockout."

And getting antsy about the future.

FULL story at link.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

1. So i imagine it's the players that want no salary cap and the teams/owners that want the cap?

Or is it the players AND teams/owners that want no cap and the NFL that says the caps are necessary?
They all make a ridiculous amount of money. It would seem the best thing for the league that caps exist.
Otherwise, as mentioned, things become less competitive and those with the most money have the most power.
Gee, sounds kind of familiar... hopefully SCOTUS isn't deciding this one. :sarcasm:

Remember, there are MANY more jobs at stake than the few star players and powerhouse teams all the fuss is about.
Parking, security, food & vending, maintenance & janitorial, backup & practice players, sales & administration...

[ParkieDem]

2. I wholeheartedly agree

Personally, I think that big-time labor actions by professional athletes give organized labor a bad name. What's baseball's minimum salary, $300k+? In football isn't it in the $200k range? Plus, all they have to play is 2-3 years for a fully-vested pension?

I may be wrong on the specifics of these numbers, but the bottom line is that professional athletes make more money in a year than an average worker will see in a lifetime. When they go on strike, they sit in their mansions while janitors, concession workers, front office staff and other working- and middle-class Americans lose their paychecks (and maybe health coverage, etc.)