Most hardcore fans won’t be affected, although some are having their first real break from following their team in many years. Breaks like that can lead to priority changes.

The average fan though, the ones that don’t spend a lot on the NFL but follow it on TV, those guys are totally up for grabs at this point. Something else could easily become the focus of their Sunday afternoons and that would mean TV ratings and revenue down.

I think the owners and the players are in real trouble right now. They’re assuming that what was before the lockout is going to be what will be after it is resolved. From the standpoint of record revenue and fan interest beforehand I think they’re being wildly optimistic to expect that level of prosperity to continue after.

The NFL would be a very successful venture at two-thirds of the current revenues and interest levels. That’s not an unreasonable suggestion of where things might wind up if the two parties agree to continue depriving everybody else of the product.

How many NFL contracts end before the final year of the actual contract length?

Do the so called pro player folks even pay attention to what is going on? The owners have offered to reduce the number of off season activities. It is true that the owners mentioned 18 games, but they were going to drop 2 preseason games. So there would still be 20 games.
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Yes I do and it’s so obvious to me why there is a labor issue.

1. The vets have never played fulltime in the preseason except for the 3rd preseason game in which they play 3 qtrs. So cutting down the preseason game and replacing it with 2 reg season games MEANS more work. Why is this not obvious to you?

2. Pat Summerall was just on the radio saying 18 games is way too much contact for a player. Pat actually played the game and knows what’s it like. Their avg career is 3.5 yrs in the NFL and now you want them to make it even shorter?

3. In the name of negotiations, the players say keep the status quo. Take the rookie money and put it for the veterans and retired players. The owners say hey let’s negotiate. We’ll start first by asking you to work more and take a paycut. On top of that, we’ll make sure we get PAID with guaranteed TV contracts while you dont. What kind of negotiations is that?

It’s pretty darn obvious to me. You?

Do the so called pro player folks even pay attention to what is going on? The owners have offered to reduce the number of off season activities. It is true that the owners mentioned 18 games, but they were going to drop 2 preseason games. So there would still be 20 games.

Also, so many people keep saying that both sides need to negotiate. Well, I have only seen the owners try to negotiate. I have not seen the players, through D. Smith, try to negotiate at all. I have only seen D. Smith call it war and refer to the “Godfather”.

For all of the so called pro player folks, how can there be any negotiations when D. Smith will not negotiate? The truth is that there cannot be negotiations and you do not want negotiations any more that D. Smith does.

FACT: D. Smith walked out of CBA negotiations, decertified the union, had certain players file suit, and then did not attend at least on court ordered mediation session.

If anyone (fans, players, PFT) really wants football, then tell D. Smith to get his butt into negotiations.

……So before we consider it a fait accompli that the players need to make concessions, can someone please explain to us — and to the players — why the 50/50 split that’s been the status quo for almost 20 years no longer works?

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Very good post man.

I still don’t get the players side, They are paid well, stay at the finest hotels, choice of food, look at as Gods by their fans. They are employees of the owners who take the risk on each player. They aren’t co-owners, yet they want 50-50 deal. How many players have been paid a good contract and not play one down because they could not grasp the play book or how to play in the NFL?? Sorry, I love football but I’m for one becomming more disappointed in the players view than ever.
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How much the players make is relative isn’t it? A Mexican Day Laborer working his ass off out int he field would think your current job is wayyyyy overpaid. Dont the players have the right just like the majority of us to seek as much as they can for their skillsets? Isn’t that part of the essence of the American Dream?

Would you take a paycut if your current employer made record revenue and ask you to work 2 extra days? You’d take them to court in a heart beat and you know it.

This time period has, not coincidentally, been a renaissance for the NFL, culminating in last year’s record profits and unprecedented popularity on TV — 28 out of the 30 highest-rated TV broadcasts of 2010 were NFL football games.

So before we consider it a fait accompli that the players need to make concessions, can someone please explain to us — and to the players — why the 50/50 split that’s been the status quo for almost 20 years no longer works?

The only obvious explanation has to do with the rapid increase of revenue disparity between the top and bottom earning franchises in the league, but this should be an argument for adjusting the revenue sharing agreement between the owners, and not trying to make up the difference by getting money back from players.

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You still haven’t seen it. Keep trying!

All of that is in the past and pretty much meaningless. The future of the game is riding on both sides coming to an agreement they can both say is a win. De Smith has pigeonholed the players into a bad situation.

The players aren’t being asked to take a pay cut. If the cap increases by 20 million for each team with a bottom cap number, guess what? For some teams that cap increases would be something like a 50% increase. Teams like the cards can no longer fly 40 mil under the cap. I just don’t know why so many players aren’t thinking bigger picture.

Pro player folks, please advise us as to whom the owners can negotiate a settlement with lacking an entity to represent the players?

I would agree and add, both sides have moved away from a pure business negotiation stance to, making this a personal fight with no holds barred.The fans caught in the middle are becomming more and more bitter every day. Innocent people are taking pay cuts or being layed off entirely.This looks more and more like no one is going to budge, and so will move into the regular season, and possibly result in the whole seasons loss. If this happens then thousands of people risk being layed off within the clubs themselves and also in the many businesses that rely on the NFL for their livelyhood.[tens of thousands of persons could be affected]If the season goes, so do a great number of fans !!This is a case of pure GREED destroying the League. It is a scenario that few fans would have ever believed could happen six months ago !! Time is now the enemy of the NFL, both players and owners !