Alan Kiszka
The National Football League is one of the favorite sports in America. It earns over 9 billion in total revenue a year which is split up between the players and the owners. This year the collective bargaining agreement ended and a dispute has arisen over the amount the players will get paid in the new agreement. With the 2011 football season in question many wonder if a new agreement will be made. The owners should try their hardest to get an agreement done as quickly as possible if they don’t the owners won’t make nearly as much as they did this year.
The owners need to loosen their belts over the money. The NFL makes 9 billion a year and the owners get a large sum of it. They get a billion right away before the players are even paid then they split the 8 billion up 80/20, the owners get 20 percent and the players get 80 percent. In a year the owners each get 81 million dollars. The top player Peyton Manning only gets paid 30.8 million however half of that is from endorsements. So in reality he only gets paid 15 million a year which is a far cry from the 81 million the owners get paid. All of the players get paid after the money is divided and is another reason why they don’t get as much. One reason the owners say they need to get paid so much is for all of the things that are associated with the team and upkeep of the stadiums. Even though the owners do have to deal with all of the costs of owning a team the difference in pay is outstanding. In the past when the league didn’t make as much in revenue the pay difference wasn’t as big. With the new agreement the owners will have to a count the total revenue that the league will take in and will have to be a little fairer when splitting of the money. If the owners keep such a drastic difference in the pay scheme then the new agreement may not be agreed upon until the season is either partly over or completely over.
The majority of the players are not big money earners and are in the middle of the pay scale. The league minimum is 295,000 dollars a year and the average player gets about a million dollars a year. To many the amount that they earn is more then enough to live a comfortable life. In reality a lot of the money is in bonuses that the player may not get. With the possibility of an extended time without pay many of the average earning players have asked a law firm to represent them at the table since they aren’t being represented because the only players that are being represented are the higher end players that are on the salary scale. Now that they are going to be represented the talks may be further advanced and may get done more quickly.
Without the star players the league might not make as much money as in the past. With the lockout the players can’t partake in any activities dealing with the teams they play for. This means that they can’t go to the training facilities and they can’t contact any of the coaches anytime. Some of the payers are meeting together to workout in preparation for the season. They are working out at each others houses or facilities, but this isn’t enough to prepare for the season. The players are not getting the same quality weight training and don’t have the different options to choose from. Many may be out of shape for the start of the season whenever it is. The only time that they can go back to their teams is when a new agreement is signed. If a new agreement is made then the players won’t be able to play this season. The season will still be played but with replacement players. With the replacement players playing fans might not want to watch the games since their favorite stars won’t be playing and making those amazing plays. The replacement players won’t be as skilled so the scores won’t be as high as they usually could be with the normal players. As Americans we do love high scoring games so the viewing ratings may go down because the scores will be lower. With the replacement players the playoffs and super bowl might not be acknowledged by fans since the star players won’t be playing. The usual players could have changed the outcome of the games. Teams that usually would have made the playoffs may not while other teams that are usually bad may make it. The teams will still get paid from TV and radio agreements but the ticket sales will hurt the total amount that they earn. If the owners don’t get as much money as they did with the regular players then they are going to get an agreement done quickly. If they don’t then the owners might lose out on a lot of possible money that they could have
The new rules that the owners agreed on may deter some players from signing the agreement. New rules such as changes to the kickoff at the start of games have already made some players mad and only the start of the season will tell if the rule changes were made correctly or not. Deven Hester from the Bears has spoken out on the rule changes along with some other players complaining about it will hamper their own game. The rule about all of the kickoffs is that they are moving the placement of the ball five yards up to the thirty-five yard line and the kicking team will only get a five yard running start instead of a ten to fifteen yard run start they had before This move will cause almost every kickoff to go past the end zone and will be a touch back. This may cause the specialty players who return the kickoffs to lose their jobs and they will have to look at another position to make their money. The NFL has said that the changes are to promote safety for the players. This may not work because the kickoff is only a very short timed play and usually the return man only gets a couple of yards in a return. With the rule changes the players are being limited along with the possible pay cut. The NFL could have made changes to the other types of plays that are more relevant then the kickoff. If players are mad then they might ask for more money as part of the agreement or they might just not even think about signing it. This will cause the process to take longer then it already has and the full season may be at risk.
The owners will still make an enormous amount of money. There are only thirty-two owners and hundreds of players. The owners won’t back down and will still make money even though their teams are using replacement players. Fans will still watch and the fan base is expected to expand in the coming years. The owners are in no hurry since they know that they will make their money anyway. The owners should be in a hurry to get this done because they can make more money if their star players are playing and they will get more broadcast money. More games are being planned to be covered and with this they will get more money
The players are being selfish and all they want is money. The players are only looking out for themselves and will only be happy once they get the max amount of money that they can. They are so use to the spotlight that if they aren’t in it then they won’t know what to do so they are making this bigger then it is. The players in the NFL are playing a dangerous sport they can be injured at any point during the game and these injuries could affect them the rest of their lives. The average player only plays a number of years and will only make a fraction of what the stars make. For them every pay check matters because their families depend on these to live.
The NFL lockout has caused many problems and has put the season in question. The owners want more money but the players also want more money. Both can’t be happy and the owners won’t back down. With all of the money that the NFL makes yearly they should have no problem finding a middle ground.
Clayton, John. NFL changes kickoffs, replay rules. ESPN, March 24, 2011. Web. March 26, 2011.
http://nflsalaries.org/. NFL Salaries. http://nflsalaries.org/, January 2, 1010. Wed. April 10, 2011.
