1) Then why should the players get guaranteed growth in their piece of the pie every year? They were supposedly doing that in the last CBA if I'm not mistaken with teams having to spend a minimum amount on the cap & up to a certain dollar point. The cap increased what $10 mil a yr/per team a year if I'm not mistaken
2) I repesct the players putting their future well being on the line, especially in later years but they have a choice for another profession & income. I'm quite sure 95% of them couldnt find jobs in the everyday world that pays them what the NFL does.
3) A new stadium IMO is part of what the fans want & has helped grow the game, which adds $ to everyone associated with that team & at some point has to be addressed by every NFL team.
4) Tell me K9, how much financial risk is shared by the players? I'll tell you...zero!!!
1) The players don't get a guarateed increase in "their slice of the pie every year." The percentage of revenue doesn't increase every year; when the revenue increases, so does the salary cap. But it's not like owners get 45% of revenues, then 42%, then 40%, then 38%. That's the
slice of the pie increasing every year. That's not what happens.
2) Well, I'm sure that 99.9% of the population can't complete a deep out with Dwight Freeney bearing down on him. I'm sure that 99.9% of the population can't run a 4.50 40 while looking over their shoulder for the ball and hand-fighting a cornerback. This argument never makes any sense to me.
3) I agree with you, but if the owners get the financial benefit from new stadiums, why do they want money back from the players? If it's really bad for them (And the Green Bay books suggest it's not) then open your books and tell us how you're in trouble.
Question: Why should anyone making a minimum 6 figure salary need retirement benefits and health coverage provided for them? I contribute to both my own health insurance and my own pension. If I want more of a retirement package, I'm free to do that on my own. And I don't make near the money they make. Am I any less important? I work in an environment that at a moment's notice I could be seriously injured or even killed but I don't scream, scratch, and cry for anything more than what I'm getting now and I feel fortunate for what I have. Point is, this is nothing more than millionaire players quibbling with billionaire owners over BS. This isn't the 50's, 60's, or 70's anymore where players were considered real blue collared workers, the kind who in the off season had to get actual jobs and any player who has any kind of a career should have a comfortable retirement if they aren't stupid with their money. If a player only manages a year or 2, then they should have a college degree to fall back on. If they don't, it's not the fault of the owners. There's plenty of greed to go around here.
That's what collective bargaining is all about. It was a mistake of the middle class to be conned into giving up employer-sponsored pensions in exchange for 401Ks with potentially higher growth but also much much higher risk. You're not less important, but you have less leverage. Because people stupidly allowed the unions to be dismantled over the last 30 years and gave up financial security doesn't mean that people who didn't do that shouldn't have the rights that they asked for.
Are you less important? I don't know. Do you have a skill set that the market deems less valuable? Certainly. Sorry, but that's the way free enterprise works.
As far the current agreement being unsustainable, you are right the league isn't in trouble...yet. You can't have the increase in the salary cap from year to year that has been occurring and not run into some major financial issues down the line.
In regards to player safety, give me a break. They get paid incredible amounts of money to play football, and all players are well aware of the health risks involved. No one is forcing these people to play football. They can get a normal job at a car dealership if they are too worried about the health risks. This isn't an auto factory or lumber mill and these guys sure as hell aren't bringing in 40K a year.
I am ok with replacement players at this point because it is poor players vs. poor players. I like college football, and I can handle watching the same caliber of play on Sundays.
Why can't you have a yearly increase in the salary cap if revenues keep increasing every yet? The salary cap is tied to revenues. If revenues go down, then so does the salary cap. If the league is in trouble (which they're clearly not), then open the books and show the union. The real issue is that small-market teams are in trouble and the big market teams are not, and instead of increasing revenue-sharing, the League wants to take the difference out of the players' pockets.
No one is forcing NFL owners to take the risk that they're taking for guaranteed profit every year. If they're not happy with their return on their investment, then they can sell the team. See how easy this is to work in both directions? No one is paying money to see Jerry Jones's team; they're paying money to see the Dallas Cowboys. No one is paying money so that Bill Bidwill can make money; they're paying to see Larry Fitzgerald.
I hate the college game and can't watch it because the quality is low--even for good teams. I can't tell you the number of fans I've talked to who want no part of players who not only aren't good enough to play in the NFL right now, but also are so bad that they aren't worried about being scabs and being barred from the NFLPA whenever the labor issues are settled.
