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Report: NFLPA to oust Upshaw

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by D-3 Fan, Apr 8, 2008.

  1. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    King Roger I has taken this power for himself already. He is judge, jury and executioner.
     
  2. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    This is largely what happened with the NHL during the 2004-05 lockout. I'm guessing there will be an off-season lockout, but that players will buckle before Labor Day.
     
  3. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    The NHL is the model. They cut their labor costs by 30-40 percent in one swoop.
     
  4. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    In order to declare an impasse and unconditionally impose their own settlement, which is the goal, I think they have to lock out a whole season.


    After the settlement is imposed he won't have to even be bothered with the formality of appeals.
     
  5. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    But why didn't the NHL Players association just disband?

    The NFL players have as much chance as the Iraqi army against the coalition. The owners can clearly hold out longer.

    But the NFLPA say fine, we will shut down the union and not sign an agreement. Without an agreement any salary cap or the draft has been considered an antitrust vilolation. And unlimited free agency would ruin what appears to be the most profitable business model in professional sports for the NFL owners.
     
  6. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Congress will run interference, and the courts will rule, for the billionaires, as always.

    The owners will be allowed to do whatever they want, with the full cooperation and assistance of the government.

    No politician or judge anywhere is going to do anything in favor of a pro sports players' union, since they have about the same popularity among the general public as Al Qaeda (if that).

    Turn on the radio, fire up the internet, pick up the paper. Joe Sixpack has had enough of these pampered punk thug athletes making millions.


    (The solution, of course, is for the pampered multi-billionaire owners to make even more multi-billions. But never mind that.)
     
  7. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    The courts have consistently ruled that the football owners can not unilaterally meet and collude on salaries, the draft, etc.. While the current courts are more conservative than in the past that has been pretty much universally agreed upon over the years. When Clarett sued to try to overturn the rule that a palyer could not be drafted until after he played three years of college ball the rule was upheld because it was part of a labor agreement. And I don't think Obama would support an antitrust exemption for the owners when a labor union is involved.

    In '87 the players tried to strike, were out four weeks and then went back in because whole teams were about to cross the line. But then the players decertified, went to court, won an antitrust ruling against the owners and that is why revenue sharing and the salary cap were introduced in the early 90's. So it worked last time.
     
  8. Mark2010

    Mark2010 Active Member

    My money is on the owners getting most, if not all, of what they want out of this. They won't panic at the thought of a lockout because they are still getting the TV revenue.

    Imagine that? Continuing to get the single largest source of your revenue while eliminating your single biggest expense. Now THAT's a sweet deal!
     
  9. Flying Headbutt

    Flying Headbutt Moderator Staff Member

    That's why I'm hoping the players win on their request to have TV revenues put into escrow and set aside until a deal is reached.
     
  10. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    By the way, isn't asking the players to share in the costs of new stadiums like asking factory workers to help pay for the factories? Isn't the facility something for which the capital side is typically responsible? Maybe the players should pay for their uniforms and the footballs, too? (Maybe then they'd take better care of them and not get so many grass stains.)The NFL already has the best deal in professional sports and should be ashamed about the way the miserable way they treat the assembly line of 1-, 2- and 3-year career players who often become cripples on the industry's behalf.
     
  11. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Players are not forced to join the NFL. If they are concerned about injuries they should go into another line of work.
     
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Fair argument.

    But if players are just salaried workers -- like factory workers -- who aren't responsible for any of the capital costs, what exactly is the argument for them enjoying more than half of the revenues? In what other industry do the workers not have to consider or be responsible for capital costs, but feel entitled to dictate their share of the revenues?

    The NFL has nothing to feel ashamed of. It's a labor negotiation. The players are free to sit at the table and negotiate the terms most agreeable to them, just as the owners are. No one is forcing the players to play or accept a deal they don't want, including those 1-, 2- and 3-year career players, who all sign up willingly. No one is forcing the owners to accept a deal they don't want.

    The players have quite a bit of leverage at that table. Without them, there is no product. Both sides have equal footing at that table to use whatever leverage they have. One can only assume that based on the leverage of each, they will eventually come up with a deal they can both sign on to.
     
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