NFLPA Fires First Shot 

by Scott Weiss

The NFLPA fired the first shot to start their new war with the NFL over TV revenues and the potential impact on the upcoming labor negotiations.  The NFLPA filed a complaint charging that the NFL did not try to maximize TV revenue during the past two seasons because they knew they would have to share profits with the players, and also that the NFL will stand to make $4 Billion from the new TV contract even if there is a work stoppage in 2011.  So, how does this all impact sports fans?

On the first part of the complaint regarding the charge that the NFL did not try to maximize revenue over the past two seasons, I take the side of neither the owners nor players.  I truly do not care how these two rich kids split up the billions in question.  However, point two should be critically important to all sports fans.  What kind of motivation will the owners have if they will be receiving $4 Billion even if there is not a season played in 2011?  Is there any way that there will be a sense of urgency from the owner’s side if they know that they have the TV revenue safety net to fall back on?  On this front, I agree with the players that the owners are playing dirty pool.

Once again, it would be the loyal football fans who get the short end of the stick in this high stakes poker game.  It is important to remind people that the NFL collective bargaining agreement expires in March 2011.  If unchecked by sports fans as represented by SFC, the NFL and NFLPA will drag us through the mud over the next nine months to either come to a new collective bargaining agreement at the 11^th hour or bring the game to screeching halt with a work stoppage. 

This is the first battle in the professional sports collective bargaining wars of 2011.  Rather than hanging our heads, sports fans should see this as the best opportunity to establish a powerful and united coalition of sports fans to change the way the sports industry operates forever.

Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey.  He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000.  He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

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Check out the new webpage that the NFL has created to inform the media and public on how the labor talks are going.  (I’ll give you a hint: not good.)

With all of Goodell’s pleading in the days leading up to the Super Bowl in Miami, it was apparent, the league was feeling the heat.

The Sports Fans Coalition will continue to beat the drum, asking ‘What about the sports fans?’ We do not want to see a lockout in 2012.  They need to get a deal done.

So, whether you feel that the information on this site is helpful, biased, or just plain boring, it still might be a good resource for those studying how an organization seeks to totally abuse its position in this country as the number one sport by raking its fans over the coals time and time again shaking every last dime out of our pockets before they come back for more next season.

We shall see if the uncapped year of 2010 will be any different. At this point, it appears that there will be no change. The most important element in all this is that they get a deal done.

In tomorrow’s Washington Post, Drew Brees makes the case for American Needle in a landmark case before the Supreme Court to be heard this Wednesday.  While this may come as a surprise to many, athletes have brains and often show courage even after they remove their pads and helmet. 

The New Orleans Saints Pro Bowl Quarterback serves on the Executive Committee for the NFL Players Association, and through writing this op-ed, is serving his fellow players and sports fans by supporting American Needle, a small merchandise manufacturer based in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.  This relatively small company decided to take on the NFL, and Brees has their back.

What does that have to do with sports fans, you ask?  Well, let’s start from the beginning. 

After the NFL signed a league-wide contract with Reebok, this small hat maker concluded that it had been unfairly excluded from the entire hat market serving the League.  Therefore, American Needle sued both Reebok and the NFL for restricting competition and in turn violating antitrust laws.

While the SFC will cheer on the proverbial David in any David & Goliath scenario in the world of sports, this case potentially could change this country’s most popular sport in a variety of facets. Attorney Mark Greenbaum wrote in a San Francisco Chronicle article that ‘an overly expansive decision could adversely affect not just football, but all the leading professional sports leagues, potentially leading to the scrapping of free agency, protracted work stoppages and higher ticket prices’.

On the surface, all of that is hard to believe, but it’s true.  The NFL has used this tiny law suit to it’s power-hungry benefit, requesting that its victory in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago be heard in the Supreme Court. 

The best analogy explaining this is summoned by Tulane University sports law professor Gabe Feldman repeated in the LA Times. “This is like scoring a touchdown and then asking the officials to review the replay.”

A ruling in their favor at the highest level will not just allow the National Football League to flick the flea that is American Needle, Inc. off  its Gorilla-sized shoulder, but it will forever more be treated as a single entity, rather than 32 separate businesses.  That ruling would trump the League’s tax-exempt status, making franchise owners exempt from collusion, exempt from any limits on lowering players’ and employees’ salaries, not to mention raising prices of sports fans’ tickets, jersees, hats, you name it! 

Higher prices for tickets, merch, and the increased possibility of work stoppage?  Sounds like this case is clearly in the interest of the sports fan. According to Mike Freeman of CBS Sports, this case of American Needle v. National Football League is the ‘most significant sports legal case in history’. 

On Wednesday, the playoff-bound quarterback of the New Orleans Saints will take time out of his rigorous schedule preparing for the winner of this weekend’s Wild Card game to testify before the Supreme Court (which is set to make a decision about the case this summer). 

No matter what team we root for on Sundays, rest assured we here at the Sports Fans Coalition are rooting for Brees on Wednesday.