The National Football League (NFL) last went on strike in 1987 when the players went on strike. At that time, the owners defeated the players by hiring replacement players until the NFL players were willing to give in and resume the season. However, in 2011, the NFL may be about to go on strike again with the owners and players in disagreement. The owners have backed out of the current collective bargain agreement between them and the players, and the first step to a strike, the uncapped season, is already being put in place for the 2010-2011 season. If an agreement is not met, the following year will see the NFL go on strike and the season put on hold.
2011's potential strike was triggered by the owners who were opposed to the current agreement between players and owners. They want a rookie wage scale that would help them provide lesser contracts to rookies in case the rookies turn out to be a bust. In the current system, many owners have to shell out tremendous guaranteed contracts to rookies who might not perform anywhere near the expectations held for them.
What's more, in the current structure for payout in the NFL, the players are entitled to 59.5% of the league's total revenues. The owners believe this is unfair as they are obligated to tackle rising stadium costs, and declining revenue. What's more, the owners feel like they must assume more of the burden in the league as they have to put out money in order to try and grow the league and promote it, while the players only reap the benefits from these attempts at growth.
Lastly, the owners want to make the season longer. There's been a lot of push to extend the regular season and thus, improve revenue for the league through television contracts and ticket sales. The owners want a 17th regular season game to be added to the schedule, achieving this by removing one of the preseason games from the list. The players are not seeing eye to eye with these intentions, wanting to see the owners financial documents as proof that they're really struggling to make ends meet. In addition, the players have been wary of conceding some of the wage demands including rookie wage scale implementation. While the players have conceded to the owners demands in some respects, allowing the NFL to withhold some of its revenue streams from the player's pot, there still has been little agreement between the two sides.
In the end, only time will tell if they are able to reach an agreement. The decision will hold a lot of impact on the sport as a lockout can significantly slow a sport's growing popularity. What's more, the players will not enjoy seeing their salaries put on hold for a year. Overall, the fight in the NFL could go in any direction. A lockout could be a devastating blow to the NFL's hopes to expanding overseas and growing out the season further to increase revenue.
Molly Callahan is an expert on the field of mental illness. During her spare time, she works on a variety of web sites including power rangers megazord and pioneer speakers.
