After 18 weeks of negotiation, litigation, and aggravation, the National Football League is reopening for business after the owners of its 32 franchises sacked a league-wide lockout.
The owners and players reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement that will be in effect for the next 10 years. For the players, the decision upon the 32 team representatives to approve the deal was unanimous. The owners got 31 votes to approve, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining. Both sides have feverishly argued a fair division of a $9 billion surplus, to which the owners would get 52% while the players would take 48%. Other sticking points agreed upon were an adjustment in the rookie wage scale, better medical benefits for players, and keeping a 16-game season rather than expanding to 18 games.
One of the loose ends that remained to be tied is a settlement in the legal case that came after the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) union decertified, which is Brady et. al. vs. National Football League. Another matter is the recertification of the aforementioned NFLPA, which is currently classified as a “trade association.” Once the union is an official union again, then normal transactions and activities will resume, if not already by the time this is published. Meanwhile, training camps have opened. This includes the New York Giants and Jets, who play in East Rutherford, NJ.
Although this is the longest work stoppage in the history of the NFL, no regular season games were lost, and schedules will remain the same. League officials had organized the schedules where teams that played in the first part of the year would have strategically coordinated bye weeks that would enable them to make up games if necessary. The only game missed was the annual preseason Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. That contest would have featured the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams, who would have had little if not any time to prepare.
While there was a happy ending to this situation, the same scenario is virtually impossible for National Basketball Association (NBA) fans. The situation there does not involve a surplus, but rather a lack of money that had most of the owners unsatisfied with its old collective bargaining agreement. Their association is now in a lockout, and there may be an abbreviated season like there was in 1999 or none at all.
If the idea of scraping a whole season seems farfetched, keep in mind that there are some NBA owners that own National Hockey League (NHL) teams as well, and the owners in that league were willing to cancel the entire 2004-2005 season to get their way.
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