Except maybe in the case of a team whose stadium is half-empty for all their home games, the number of tickets a team would miss out on selling if fans could stay home and watch the game instead would be more than offset by the number of tickets that would be sold to the additional home game each team would get.

At the absolute least, the owners could propose a “three strikes” rule: If two consecutive home games for a particular team don’t sell out, the next home game after that does get blacked out if it, too, neglects to sell out – meaning that if a team doesn’t sell out any of the nine home games they’d have with the 18-game schedule, their third, sixth and last home games would get blacked out.

As to my feelings about the owners and players, I’ll quote Shakespeare:

A plague o’ both your houses

Winston’s suggestion about making Thursday-night football available to more viewers is another common-sense approach to growing the pie. I’m fortunate to have Comcast, so I can purchase the NFL Network as part of an extra sports package. Like many Fla. customers, I don’t want to deal with the interference our fluky weather seems to cause satellite customers. But most of my family and friends are Bright House customers with no NFL Network option. I don’t understand the league’s unwillingness to craft an agreement with cable operators that would bring the league into more homes. I’d love a Sunday Ticket package option.

@bhindenemylines …

Hon, the only reason the original Charlie Sheen reference wasn’t censored is because the ax-wielding moderator doesn’t have access to Mike’s copy. And if he holds true to form, this comment will be exorcised because I’m not allowed to call anyone “hon,” “sweetie,” or “darlin’.” Southern dialect is considered super threatening at the new PFT.

The truly sad thing in all of this:

Stadiums are usually built with at least 40% taxpayer dollars.

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Actually, it’s more like 60% AND if you count the PSL money, it’s more like 90%. Owners have almost none of their money invested into their palaces.

Stadiums are usually built with at least 40% taxpayer dollars.
The federal mediator’s salary and the salary of his staff, 100% paid by taxpayer dollars.
The cost of going through a drawn-out court proceeding, 100% taxpayer dollars.

And the only ones that are actually going to lose anything in all of this bickering? You guessed it.

I heard Darrelle Revis on TV this morning admit that yes this will hurt the quality of the game if they miss a lot of offseason and TC. It’s the truth. He mentioned that he had no TC (Yes due to his own choice but the fact remains) and what happened the minute he gets back? He yanks his hammy.

Also I read somewhere that Von Miller will be involved with this lawsuit too if it comes to that. I would love to know how a guy who hasn’t even been drafted yet hence isn’t even tangentially connected to the union (or lack of union) by virtue of the fact he’s never played can be a part of this? Would it be to challenge the very fact of the draft’s existence as a restraint on trade?

And as much as I hate the preseason at face value, those four games are crucial for roster building and scouting talent in game-like situations.

I just hope–if it turns out to be 2 and 18, instead of 4 and 16–that I’m happy with the result in December.

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It’s not December Sean, its well into January for the season to end. The 16 or 18 game schedule, the season will start the weekend after Labor Day. NFL wants to have the 18 game season end with SB president’s day weekend. The dreadful midwinter playoff weather aside, it will kill training camps as colleges will not host mid to late august with classes starting. 18 games has multiple issues. 16′s nuff.

The NFL could have 2,000 new ones in April. “And now we begin the 53 round of the selection meeting….”

It’s gonna be tough to watch the games when I hate all of the players. As for the coaches getting antsy, are you sure? It’s not like its raining on only one side of the field. If they are all suffering from the same disadvantage, is it really a disadvantage?

I won’t be happy if the NFL owners and brass don’t emerge from this with more power and greater control.

The ‘right now’ tagline comes from the MLB Network, so baseball does seem to be an inspiration.

If the players demand that the owners show the the union their books, then the owners should insist that players who are caught taking PEDs, illegal drugs, get DUI/DWIs, are charged with a crime, those players should forfeit any signing bonus that they had received and they should serve an automatic 8-game suspension because of the damage that they have caused to the team, the NFL, and the fans.

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Yeah, cause taking away the ONLY GUARANTEED MONEY in the NFL is really going help the league.

“Well, it’s 5 o’clock gotta get home to the wife and kids…, ok how about tomorrow? Fine. Ok then, we’ll have an extension.”

I see this repeated a fair amount since a NYT article outlining some reactions to this maneuver by business and media type non-lawyers. The underlying argument is that you can’t decertify if you really still like your union and union representatives. Please quote me the clause that supports that argument.

In the players decertify the union because continuing in a CBA is no longer in their best interests, I don’t know what the league can argue.

A CBA is an agreement between owners and a players union for their mutual benefit. Owners get salary caps, Restricted free agents, franchise tags, player regulation. The members of the union get the opportunity to renegotiate their contracts eventually if they’re succeed and are able, medical benefits, insurance. When the agreement is less agreeable to the players than simply having a contract with a team, the players can decertify – there doesn’t have to be hard feelings.

Get it done. Period.

And as much as I hate the preseason at face value, those four games are crucial for roster building and scouting talent in game-like situations.

I just hope–if it turns out to be 2 and 18, instead of 4 and 16–that I’m happy with the result in December.

Up for agreement
Down for disagreement

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Just how “smart” does one have to be to inherit a football team( as half these folks have done)? Winning the sperm lottery does not qualify one as possessing business acumen now does it?

The fans?
Haven’t you been reporting all along that Goodell insists it’s the fans who want 18 games?

/yea, we know it’s just a smokescreen aimed at shifting the blame from the owners (who really want it) to the fans (who have no say).

So much for freedom of speech at World Press and PFT.

Wake me up when the damn things signed.