Also–the fact the officials work less than their counterparts in other sports doesn’t hold water. Players only play sixteen games–should they make less? A garbage man works much harder than a librarian but the bookworm makes more. It is about skill and the amount of folks who can do the job. All you super capitalists ought to be supporting people working to get their fair market value.
It is still a free country and a free market. These men have decided to negotiate together in order to protect themselves from the rich and powerful. What is so wrong with saying, “No one can do what we do as well as we do it. We expect to be paid as such.” I mean, unless you’re a socialist or communist.
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randy took way too many hits to the head!! “the fact the officials work less than their counterparts in other sports doesn’t hold water” Oh yes it does, you dimwit!! WTH is a super capitalist anyway?? Why do you seem to hate the by far- very best and most fair system this world has ever seen?? Is it because you don’t like it that people with greater mental capacities than your own are rewarded for it? How much ability does it take to pick up trash, you braniac?? You ‘think’ people picking potatoes in a field in blistering heat ought to be paid as much as the people ‘pushing a pencil’ inside the air-conditioned office of that business???? Do you realize that those people picking potatoes have EVERY opportunity to go to school, study hard, and make a better life for themselves in this Capitalist society???? And in a socialist system, that would be nullified, no.. KILLED by the insane and inordinate distribution of compensation “all in the name of “fairness”".

So you apparently know how each and every NFL owner made their money? They weren’t all handed companies or golden eggs from their parents. Some of them actually did work to make the money they have.

“NFL leaking a story? Do you mean like the NFLRA cries to the media every day in an effort to solicit fan suppot? They won’t get any from me.

And raise concessions? Their raises dwarf what the rest of the American working public has received in the same time frame. Again, no sympathy here.”

I will always side with professional referees making 150k per year over billionaire owners who did not earn of their money. I am really surprised you don’t.

… Did you ever consider the possibility that the NFL might be leaking this “moving target” story to make the NFLRA look bad – regardless of whether or not it is true? …
Remember, the NFLRA gave much more than the NFL when they negociated their last contract in 2001. They conceded quite a bit in those negociations, including much lower raises than they had originally asked for.
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NFL leaking a story? Do you mean like the NFLRA cries to the media every day in an effort to solicit fan suppot? They won’t get any from me.

And raise concessions? Their raises dwarf what the rest of the American working public has received in the same time frame. Again, no sympathy here.

I agree with everything you’ve posted above. Perhaps some people need to learn more about cost containment.

Did you ever consider the possibility that the NFL might be leaking this “moving target” story to make the NFLRA look bad – regardless of whether or not it is true? Also, the NFL is locking out the refs, the refs are not striking. Any interpretation of this situation should shade on the side of the NFLRA considering the obnoxious stance that the NFL had taken towards the union refs.

Remember, the NFLRA gave much more than the NFL when they negociated their last contract in 2001. They conceded quite a bit in those negociations, including much lower raises than they had originally asked for.

I wonder why this is, could it be that they work by far, the least amount for an official compared to the other 3 sports leagues?

whats the disaster? That the replacement refs end up being better? Let’s be honest the regular refs are NOT that good. They screw up consistently. sure these guys aren’t as good yet but honestly I don’t think it will take them very long to be on the same level. It’s not like you are trying to replace Peyton or Brady here…

They also are the only NON Full Time and they work a lot less games. Therefor they should be paid less. Who cares if the NFL makes more money. That is completely irrelevant. How do the refs help them make more money?

162 games
82 games
16 games

Hmm….

Uhm NO! Just because the NFL makes a lot of money (which honestly how do these refs contribute to that revenue) doesn’t mean they should be paid more just because these ass clowns demand it. They are MORE then fairly compensated for working a part time job. Walmart makes a ton of money too but you don’t see them giving cashiers raises just because the amount of money they make.

1. They don’t show up once a week and work three hours. They work on NFL business four days a week. They have evaluations, they travel to and from the game site, and they’re constantly being drilled on their knowledge of the rules.

2. NFL officials are the lowest paid officials of any of the four major team sports. And the NFL is the richest of those four sports.

OMG for the amount of money the NFL makes they haggle over pensions for the refs. give me a break they should be full time anyway. Talk about cheap.
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Uhhh, the NFL wants the greedy part-timers to be permanent. They also want them to be accountable. As such, they can be relieved of their duties for not meeting performance standards. That way the officials collectively will be better. But the NFLRA sees this as a threat. I’d prefer to see a new batch of NCAA Division I officials come in and permanently take over.

Kind of how Saints’ fans are frustrated with the NFL’s moving definition of bounty.
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Give it up already. You were bad boys and got a spanking. Now go to your room.

Personally speaking, I think anything that tarnishes the final product is bad for business. The league spent over half a century building a brand to place the best of the best football athletes on the field, now they want to send inexperienced people into supervise them ?? The entire concept is insane, pay these guys a few dollars extra & end the madness.
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So I take it that you’re the type of person who would give in to a ransom demand? I see.

It likely won’t happen, unless week one has a few game changing calls and the regular refs won’t sign on the dotted line. Then look for some change.

Boo Hoo to the NFL. They locked out these guys and played hardball, thinking that the SCABS would work out. Now that the NFL is in a pickle and really worries what will happen with the incompetents in week 1, they want the NFRA to cave? Not a chance. The NFRA lnows they have the NFL byt heir short and curlies.
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If the NFLRA didn’t intimidate the NCAA Division I officials, the NFL could sign them right now. They would be younger and better than the greedy part-timers who could then stay home permanently.

The NFLRA officials work less than 160 hours a year for the NFL. That is equal to or less than an UDFA that makes a team would work in a month. But you want to compare the two salaries? This logic is laughable.

Again, if this was about money, the NFLRA officials would be getting ready for week one of the NFL season right now. The reason for little progress is the accountability issues that the NFLRA are opposing.

Wouldn’t the best personnel be a computer? Keep officials to make the judgement calls but make their jobs easy by taking away all the things that could be done electronically and through technology…

They don’t have a dude sitting there counting, they use a clock. Use the chip technology out there to spot the ball. Use booth officials to review calls, all calls. Have an official monitoring all live camera angles to make calls.

There’s such a better approach to officiating and overpaying a group of people because they’ve union-ed up and monopolized game experience is crazy.

Don’t confuse your pro-union opinion with a fact. The game will go on with or without them.

2.) If the regular part-time refs want so much more money when is it feasible to just go to full time refs?

3.) The NFL is successful because the players and coaches do the heavy lifting and the owners have the $$$$ and take the financial risks. The refs are important employees but they are not the game. Just because the game is succesful does not mean they should be over paid. Whats next hot dog vendors want $200.00/hour?

4.) Which brings me back to point 2.).

Bring me football. I dont care!

This is nothing more than a Union/Labor fanboy’s opinion. There is nothing factual about it.

I willing to bet that less than 50% of NFL fans share this OPINION. It might even be closer to 25% than 50%.

This is not about the $$$ involved. It is about the NFLRA not wanting their officials to be accountable. There will be no deal till the NFLRA accepts the new system which would hold officials accountable for their poor calls.

NFLPA:
Doesn’t want officials full-time.
Doesn’t want 2-3 extra crews.
Doesn’t want officials replaced for bad performance.

NFL:
Doesn’t want to pay part-time employees outrages wages.
Doesn’t want to provide a pension plan to part-time employees . Offers a 401k instead.

Which stance seems more reasonable…