Merging Sports and Politics: The NFL Lockout

People look to sports as something that is a refuge from politics and divisive topics. I admit that it's really easy to look at it that way - there isn't much that my dad and I agree upon but we both really love football and the Chicago Bears in particular. But, this ideal is really a lie. Nothing is separate from politics, because while professional sports masquerades as completely privately owned, owners deliver ultimatums to taxpayers demanding millions for new stadiums or they'll take the hometown team to wherever will pony up the money. And then, after taking the money, they still charge $90 a ticket. In fact, during the chaos of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Superdome housed countless homeless individuals. That was the first time that any of them had stepped foot in the stadium that they helped build with their tax dollars.

One interesting aspect of the current Super Bowl champions - The Green Bay Packers - is that there is no one owner of the team. It is collectively owned by the citizens of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Written in the bi-laws of the team is a clause that any profit made from the sale of the team must be donated to the United Way. The Packers are quite literally a product of Socialism. During the Super Bowl broadcast, this fact was not mentioned once. Sure they had time to show Cameron Diaz feeding popcorn to Alex Rodriguez, but not to mention that the Packers had a completely opposite ownership structure to that of the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones' $1 Billion stadium that the game was played in.

The negotiations between the NFL owners and the Player's Union is the interaction that I'm really most interested in at the moment. If you listen to casual sports fans, you're likely not to find that much interest. They see the disagreement as millionaires fighting with billionaires, something that just does not matter to the common fan. But the fact is this - if March 4th passes and there is not a new collective bargaining agreement between the players and the owners, there will be a lockout and there might not be any NFL football next year.

How did it come to this? Well, there was an agreement between the sides in 2006. It was set to last for seven years, but the owners dissolved the agreement after the 2010 season in hopes of getting a greater share of profits. The NFL makes $9 Billion a year. The original agreement was a 60/40 split in favor of the owners after taking an agreed upon amount off the top for the owners (This is to account for stadiums and other 'additions' that improve the game that the players agree to help subsidize the owners). So, in real terms as of last year, out of the $9 Billion the owners kept $1 Billion off the top and split the remaining $8 Billion 60/40.

Coming into these negotiations, the owners' position is that they want to keep the 60/40 split but increase the amount off the top to $2 Billion. The players' counteroffer is a 50/50 split with the original $1 Billion. So, who is right here? The NFL is a growing business and profits will only increase. Upon getting the offer for the $2 Billion subsidy for the owners, the players asked to see the financial activities of the teams to see both where the money would go and whether or not they actually need it. The owners refused.

My take is this, NFL owners are trying desperately to retake any losses that they supposedly took in the 2006 agreement and then some. Owners have been preparing for this lockout for years. They have secured guaranteed TV contracts that will pay the owners next season whether there is any football or not. They have started rescinding coaches' health care as well as players'. Their plan is this - settle in with the TV money and paint the players as greedy athletes who are at fault for there being no football until the players finally cave.

This cannot happen. The players are the talent that feeds this machine and without them, all the owners really have is REALLY expensive fields. How can anyone think that the players should agree to the ultimatum placed before them? With an additional $1 Billion taken away from the players over the length of the contract (7 years), you're asking the players to voluntarily give away $7 Billion. The average player only plays 3.4 years, and that lack of revenue is a huge hit to the amount of money that a player can make in their career.

The main hope for the NFLPA (the players union) is that fans side with them in this struggle. Players want to play this game and only ask for an equitable share of the money that this sport generates. I ask everyone to educate themselves on the matter and show this country that organized labor is a vital part of this country's greatness (I'm also talking to you Governor Walker)

Head to nfllockdown.com and sign the petition to send a message to the owners


Also, this ad was rejected for play at the Super Bowl because of 'content' issues. I guess supporting the game is just too controversial. Watch the ad and pass it on... It's powerful