Everyone Loses With The NFL Lockout
Call me naive, but I was really hopeful that a new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL players and the owners would be agreed upon by last Friday's deadline.
I couldn't imagine that either side would want this situation to go through the courts. Well, that is exactly what is now going on. The owners have locked out the players, and that has led to decertification for the NFLPA. So who are the winners and the losers in this situation? Along with the players and the owners, there are other groups who are affected.
How about the fans who might not have football next season?
How about the businesses around each stadium who depend on the revenue from the games?
In the end everyone loses with this lockout.
 Patriots owner Robert Kraft sounded hopeful that a lockout could be avoided, but now there is uncertainty over the future while the two sides remain at odds over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. (PHOTO:Icon/SMI) |
The owners lose because they have to deal with the uncertainty of not having revenue coming in from the games when they would begin in August. They also have to deal with less money being spent on products associated with their teams. A lockout also is a public relations nightmare because their customers, the fans are definitely not happy with the threat of no football in 2011.
The players lose because they don't know the next time they will see a paycheck. The players who make big money might not be affected as much, but how about those players making the league minimum? Their careers are short enough. The players cannot be happy that they could lose a significant amount of money if a work stoppage takes away football in 2011.
The businesses that make money from game-day near the stadiums are affected by this lockout. Many businesses obviously make significant money around these stadiums on the days of the games. Their futures could certainly be affected by a lockout.
Lastly let's not forget the customers of the NFL. The fans are the ones who ultimately pay for the players and owners to fight over $9 billion dollars. We have to deal with the uncertainty of there not being a season as well. With the financial situation in our country right now I think it might be hard for many fans to feel sorry for millionaires and billionaires.
This lockout could lead to a backlash from the fans. Remember how long it took Major League Baseball to recover from their strike? It took many years for the game to fully recover. The players and owners are in jeopardy of losing fans who might not come back right away.
As a fan I really don't care who is at fault for the lockout. For me there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides. I am not picking sides. I just want football.
Going through the courts and having this situation dragged out for a long time affects everyone. I say to both sides get back to the table and start negotiating once again. They need to compromise and the time is now. Both sides should be committed to getting a deal done.
If both sides cannot workout their differences, they can ruin a game that has made them all a tremendous amount of money. It is time to do the right thing for the owners and the players.
Get back to the table now because everyone loses with the NFL lockout.
