Clearly you don't know what the situation was because you refuse to acknowledge that, whether the league redid the contracts or not, they were getting their money. Yes. That's right. The league was getting their money under the old contracts. Ones that said that they wouldn't have to pay back the networks for games missed.
The old TV contracts that expired in 2005 were negotiated prior to the present CBA, and thus have no bearing on the present situation. The only thing that matters is that it was a violation of the present CBA when the league did not seek to maximize total revenues by insisting on provisions that kept payments coming in the event of a labor stoppage. The owners can appeal the ruling, but it's very unlikely to be overturned.
The owners (save the Packers) refuse to open their books because the players are employees, not partners. They have no stake in the longevity of any of the teams.
At this point, it makes very little sense for the owners to refuse to open their books, because as soon as they institute a lockout and the litigation starts, the players' counsel will be able to request the financial records in the discovery process.
It's amazing how the league is supposed to just cowtow to the players whims, yet you never see the players doing jack for the league. If they were "partners", the the players would be doing more than just saying "Gimmee, Gimmee, Gimmee." all the time.
The players don't do jack for the league? How about serving as the NFL's sole draw... or do you think fans tune in to see Jerry Jones' and Al Davis' track suits? Without these players, the NFL is about as viable as the Arena Football League. And no, the players aren't "partners" - they cease benefiting from the league's growth in profitability at the end of careers that last, on average, 3 1/2 seasons. If the owners want the players to sacrifice on the behalf of the league's future valuation, they could give every player a non-trivial stake in the league. Of course, they have no interest in doing that, because it's ultimately much cheaper to pay them for their present services.
Yes, the owners shell out millions to make sure the players get top of the line healthcare, yet they are the scummy ones.
You act like the owners pay for their players health care out of the goodness of their hearts. Ha! The current players get top of the line healthcare because a) they collectively bargain for it, and b) because the owners want to maximize their return on investment in the players.
Meanwhile, the health care for retired veterans has been absolutely pitiful until the last few years, and the only reason things are changing is the mounting bad press the league is getting.
The owners have gone out of their way to ensure that the players have access to some of the best financial planners and such. Yet, we know very few actually take advantage of it.
First of all, this is a co-effort by the NFL and the NFLPA - and it's not like it's come at any great cost. Nobody needed to twist any arms to get investors to come in and get a crack at representing the players.
Oh, and please, do clue me in on how we know that very few actually take advantage of it.
One last thing, could you please point to the study that says most, if not all pro-football players suffer in their post-football careers..
You can find citations for a number of them dealing with brain injury and osteoarthritis
here. Those are just the ones funded by UNC. Many, many more are just a google search away.
OH, and also tell me who the guy was holding the gun to their head that "made them" play professional football.
First, tell me about the gun being held to the head of the owners forcing them to hold onto their teams. I mean, for the vast majority of players, their athletic gifts were their most promising marketable skills by a good sight -- but the owners, meanwhile, could all sell their teams right now for many times what they were worth when they bought or inherited them, and reinvest their windfall in whatever other field they choose. Who's making *them* choose to stick around to dig their heels in and risk the 2011 season?
The slightest rumor that an NFL franchise is on the market sparks tons of interest - the owners could be replaced by other billionaires or moneyed interests in a matter of weeks. The players? Try replacing them with scabs from the UFL, and the TV networks would have to play "yakkety sax" over the broadcasts just to make them watchable.