Football 2011 is OVER!!!!

[harveybirdman]

Updated Mar 11, 2011 5:31 PM ET
WASHINGTON
There is no more overtime in labor negotiations between the NFL and NFL Players Association.

Talks for a new collective bargaining agreement fell apart Friday, as the players' union moved to decertify. This will undoubtedly lead to the league's first work stoppage in 24 years.



SANDS OF TIME
Stay up to date on the NFL's labor situation as the owners and players work on a new collective bargaining agreement.
The news came Friday afternoon following a contentious Thursday of verbal salvos between both sides during heated negotiations. Nine NFL owners on the league's executive committee as well as a slew of NFLPA executives and player representatives were among those who attended Friday's session at Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington.

Several legal proceedings are now set to follow, which could continue the impasse into the regular season.

Federal mediator George Cohen said both sides could not agree on "core issues" after 17 days of mediation.

The players will now allow the CBA to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET. The maneuver will prevent the NFL from instituting a lockout and allow individual players to sue the league for antitrust violations under the auspices of David Doty, a U.S. district court judge with a lengthy history of favorable NFLPA rulings.

Multiple media reports claim that three star quarterbacks — Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning — would be among those players who would participate in such a filing.

In a statement, the NFLPA said it would "move forward as a professional trade association with the mission of supporting the interests and rights of current and former professional football players."

The NFL already has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board arguing that decertification would be a sham. The NFLPA decertified in the late 1980s so players could sue the NFL, an effective legal maneuver that led to a CBA agreement in 1993. The NFLPA later reformed.

The biggest issues that derailed negotiations were revenue sharing and the increased "expense credit" that the league is asking from the NFLPA to help cover escalating costs and stadium funding. The impasse resulted in federal mediator George Cohen asking both sides for two extensions last week that extended the CBA expiration deadline by seven days.




The NFL already receives $1 billion a year in expense credit before the remainder of the revenue is split between the league and its players union. The NFL generated $9.3 billion in 2010 revenue.

The league initially asked for another $1 billion in early CBA talks but was believed to have come down greatly from that request. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said Wednesday that the asking price stood at $800 million, although NFL counsel and lead negotiator Jeff Pash disputed that claim on Thursday.

Smith had publicly balked at agreeing to any CBA deal until NFL owners "open their books" and provide more financial information about the league's 32 franchises. The NFL, which consists entirely of privately owned teams except for the Green Bay Packers, resisted doing so and claims the NFLPA already has sufficient data to consummate a CBA.

Brees, who was part of the NFLPA's negotiating contingent, expressed his frustration with NFL owners Friday morning on Twitter.

"They refuse to give that information to us," Brees wrote. "They think we should just trust them. Would you?"

The contentious stance also stems from Doty's recent court ruling that NFL owners conspired to create a $4 billion lockout "war chest" based upon payments from its television partners. The NFLPA had claimed that such an action violated the current CBA that calls for the NFL to maximize profits that will be split between the two parties.

Other major CBA issues that ultimately must be resolved include the NFL's request for an 18-game regular season — a change that Smith has publicly opposed — and rookie wage scale.

[The Falcon Jedi]

Obama will not stand for this. He will intervene. He loves football.

[Gritz]

Screw both sides......seriously.

If there isn't a 2011 NFL season I'm not coming back to pro football.

I love college football anyway.

[ChrisD]

The NFL generates over $9 billion in revenue each year. There will be a 2011 NFL Season. No court, or higher power would allow a lock-out to occur. Not with the NFL. MLB, NHL, NBA, all can be sacrificed. But the US isn't going to allow the NFL to have a lockout (And I think President Obama's take on it even showed that, despite saying he had better things to do, etc.). As I've been saying, the deal won't get done before the draft. But it will get done before the start of the pre-season.

[The Don™]

(03-11-2011 07:29 PM)Gritblitzer Wrote:  Screw both sides......seriously.

If there isn't a 2011 NFL season I'm not coming back to pro football.

I love college football anyway.

You'll be coming back. Why? Because there WILL be professional football in 2011.

[Gritz]

(03-11-2011 08:55 PM)The Don™ Wrote:  You'll be coming back. Why? Because there WILL be professional football in 2011.

There probably will be.....after they clusterf***k this thing long enough and hard enough to screw up free agency for everyone.

I dread these next few weeks because both sides will be doing the hard PR push to present their respective sides and claim how they're really doing this for the fans.

Both sides can collectively kiss my ass.

[Jesus]

I'm so glad the NFL decided to take the fast lane into oblivion. Yay the NFL is the new NHL. Just when they were the most profitable sport on the Earth.

[The Falcon Jedi]

(03-11-2011 08:59 PM)Gritblitzer Wrote:  There probably will be.....after they clusterf***k this thing long enough and hard enough to screw up free agency for everyone.

I dread these next few weeks because both sides will be doing the hard PR push to present their respective sides and claim how they're really doing this for the fans.

Both sides can collectively kiss my ass.

I agree with you. This isnt fair to the fans, and we are the ones who provide all this money that they are both bitching over. Shouldnt the fans be represented during these discussions? Why are we being left out?

[phocis850]

..... sigh .....

[Gritz]

(03-11-2011 09:17 PM)The Falcon Jedi Wrote:  I agree with you. This isnt fair to the fans, and we are the ones who provide all this money that they are both bitching over. Shouldnt the fans be represented during these discussions? Why are we being left out?

2 reasons:

1.) We don't generate the product and

2.) They take fan support for granted. They count on the fans always being there, regardless of their bullshit.