This Won't Get Off the Ground
August 26th 2010 00:45
Today, the NFL announced that it will shoot for the 2012 season as the first to feature an 18-game regular season schedule. This comes as a shock to very few people, seeing how the idea has been kicked around with some amount of credibility for about a year now. This is an issue that might polarize the NFL and its Player's Union more than any other in recent memory. Let's break it down.
The extra two games will come at the expense of the low-effort, low-impact preseason. Instead of the customary four games, every team's tuneup period will be cut to 2. There are myriad consequences to this. For the owners and NFL corporate, it means more ticket sales, TV money, concession sales, and 2 more weeks in the news cycle. For the union (the players), the extra games mean more pounding, wear-and-tear, pain, stat volume, 2 less weeks of "vacation", and 2 more weeks in the news cycle.
It looks like the NFL and its owners reap all the benefits and shoulder very little of the cost. The players are bearing most of the cost in the form of physical pounding and degradation. There are very few foreseeable benefits of this proposal for the player's union. The NFL has to somehow sweeten the deal for the NFLPA, and here's why.
The league's collective bargaining agreement expires after the upcoming season. The two rivaling sides are the NFL and its owners pitted against the very powerful player's union. At the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, the sides have to come to accord on various items relating to league procedure, revenue shares, salary caps, free agency details, etc. The 18-game schedule would be one of the issues that must be agreed upon. Exact details on the share of extra money going to the players notwithstanding, there's very little incentive for the players to agree to playing a longer season.
This is why the NFL must--absolutely must--go over the top in sweetening this deal for the players, because if they don't, the league doesn't just stand to lose out on this issue. The whole labor agreement and an impending lockout are at stake. If the NFL pushes too hard, the players could very easily decide to sit out the season until they get the deal they want. They have all the leverage, because the league needs them to generate the revenue to make the league the cash cow that it is.
This is why I say that this will never happen (at least not until the next CBA expires). The players have all the leverage and no incentive in the labor discussions.
Look for this 18-game proposal to decrease in the news, silently fade away, then never be brought up again (unless the NFL concedes a ton, which is unprecedented). This is what the NFL should do if it wants to appease its players and avoid a 2011 lockout.
The extra two games will come at the expense of the low-effort, low-impact preseason. Instead of the customary four games, every team's tuneup period will be cut to 2. There are myriad consequences to this. For the owners and NFL corporate, it means more ticket sales, TV money, concession sales, and 2 more weeks in the news cycle. For the union (the players), the extra games mean more pounding, wear-and-tear, pain, stat volume, 2 less weeks of "vacation", and 2 more weeks in the news cycle.
It looks like the NFL and its owners reap all the benefits and shoulder very little of the cost. The players are bearing most of the cost in the form of physical pounding and degradation. There are very few foreseeable benefits of this proposal for the player's union. The NFL has to somehow sweeten the deal for the NFLPA, and here's why.
The league's collective bargaining agreement expires after the upcoming season. The two rivaling sides are the NFL and its owners pitted against the very powerful player's union. At the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement, the sides have to come to accord on various items relating to league procedure, revenue shares, salary caps, free agency details, etc. The 18-game schedule would be one of the issues that must be agreed upon. Exact details on the share of extra money going to the players notwithstanding, there's very little incentive for the players to agree to playing a longer season.
This is why the NFL must--absolutely must--go over the top in sweetening this deal for the players, because if they don't, the league doesn't just stand to lose out on this issue. The whole labor agreement and an impending lockout are at stake. If the NFL pushes too hard, the players could very easily decide to sit out the season until they get the deal they want. They have all the leverage, because the league needs them to generate the revenue to make the league the cash cow that it is.
This is why I say that this will never happen (at least not until the next CBA expires). The players have all the leverage and no incentive in the labor discussions.
Look for this 18-game proposal to decrease in the news, silently fade away, then never be brought up again (unless the NFL concedes a ton, which is unprecedented). This is what the NFL should do if it wants to appease its players and avoid a 2011 lockout.
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