NFL CBA: 18-Game Season, Rookie Wage Scale Was the Easy Stuff

It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.  ~Franklin Delano Roosevelt

The National Football League owners conceded this week to keeping the same number of regular season games – 16 as opposed to 18 – but still have not agreed to fully show the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) what their finances are all about. It appears that the game schedule concession was easy by comparison to getting the owners to open their check book ledgers.

So far, the a couple of the well-publicized key points that had kept the two sides apart were a rookie wage scale, decisions about changing to an eighteen-game season and player benefits, just to name a few. But these issues are nothing compared to the issues of the revenue splits between the two sides (in the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement [CBA] players were given a guaranteed percentage of the gross revenues) – which is basically what caused the owners to pick this fight in the first place.

Money is like manure.  You have to spread it around or it smells.  ~J. Paul Getty

In terms of what has already been agreed upon, things make sense.

Should rookies need to at least play in one NFL game before they get paid $50 million? Of course.

Rather  than offering six-year, $55 million contracts, the new rookie scale will limit all first-round contracts to four years (down from six for the current top 16 and five for the final 16). In subsequent rounds, the maximum contract terms will be cut down from four to three years, according to am NEW YORK.

Money saved here should be made available for proven veterans who have done the work.

Will Washington Redskins’ fans be packing up tail-gating gear and paying for parking at FEDEX  Field for two, rather than four preseason games in 2011? Nope. The NFLPA’s BMOC (big man on campus), DeMaurice Smith has stated that the union will not consider moving to an 18-game schedule in the ongoing negotiations.

“First of all, the league has never presented a formal proposal for 18 games,” Smith told Jim Trotter of SI.com. “But more importantly, it’s something that our players don’t want. Eighteen games is not in the best interest of our players’ safety, so we’re not doing it.”

Money often costs too much. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don’t have a lot of sympathy for how tired the folks involved in this situation look. The owners and the NFLPA have had two years to talk about the issues keeping a CBA from being agreed upon and it has now come down to the 12^th hour. If anyone wants football to be played any time soon, the two sides have until 11:59 pm tomorrow night to figure out how to get a deal done. However, that doesn’t look likely if the locks don’t come off of the NFL owner’s financial ledgers.

A major obstacle is the way the revenues are to be split and the NFLPA cannot make an intelligent decision on concessions OR demands without knowing the state of the owners/teams’ finances. What bothers me – and others – is that the owners seem so reluctant to open them. What are they hiding?

Under the old CBA, on top of the $9 billion in revenue, owners received an immediate $1 billion for operating expenses before splitting remaining revenues with players; at the outset of these negotiations, the NFL sought an extra $1 billion off the top.

Recently, the Associated Press reported that the owners had lowered this amount to $800 million. Smith thinks that figure is still too high, that is, at least unless and until the owners give up more financial information. While the owners have given them some, Smith says it isn’t enough.

“Just to be absolutely clear, the information that was offered wasn’t what we asked for,” Smith said, “and, according to our investment bankers and advisers, they told us that information would be meaningless in determining whether to write an $800 million check to the National Football League [in each year of a new CBA].”

Nothing that Smith asked for in a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell written May 18, 2009, asking for specific financial information, was unreasonable. He asked for information on total operating income, expenses, profit, net income and assets. This is the type of information any bank would want from someone wanting investment capital to open a business. Are the owners not giving out this information because what will become clear is that they are billionaires wanting to become multi-billionaires and the conspicuous consumption is simply too conspicuous?

While that, in and of itself is not a crime, it is when the parity between what they want and what is fair to concede to their employees – i.e., the players who are making them much of that money – is too great. In the owners’ minds, there are stadiums and practice bubbles to be built and paid for, free agents to pay and jerseys to market. I suppose in their minds, $800 million isn’t enough to get all that done.

On the other hand, players have a short life-span in their field of employment (pun intended) compared to other professions. They would like to make the most of the financial opportunities they have while playing and get themselves and their families ready for life-after-football. What do they need to get it done?

Until this specific issue is resolved, no CBA will get signed. The rookie wage scale, the player benefits and an 18-game season are issues that are negotiable by logic and fact. Issues like the parity between NFL markets – say, Washington or Dallas vs. Atlanta or Arizona – which can affect how much revenue goes to each team and how it is used – is large and it is dynamic. Regional and national economics, game schedules; even win/loss records could – albeit subtly – change requirements.

Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won’t buy the wag of his tail.  ~Henry Wheeler Shaw

The owners are losing this case in the court of public opinion. Being viewed as greedy and unwilling to show their finances, the best thing they could do is open up the books and let Smith and the NFLPA see why the owners are claiming they need or deserve the $800 million dollars…. at least if they want to see football in 2011 and not court litigation.

Despite what NFL lead negotiator Jeff Pash said yesterday about the owners being willing to give the NFLPA more information: “Have we offered to provide more? Absolutely. And is it a subject that we’re prepared to discuss? Absolutely,” no more information has come out yet – that we know of.

This being the case, these next two days could be very, very long.

In the meantime, I think I’ll go do my taxes.

Intaxication:  Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.  ~From a Washington Post word contest

Hail.