Clearing the decks

[Ochmed Jones]

BB preparing for a possible lockout. Rumor has it, he has Caserio out interviewing potential "replacement" players.

Never too early to get a jump on things. Didn't those replacement player games count last time?????

 

[Synovia]

I recognize you dont like the statement, but which part of it are you disputing?
Do you dispute the trend exists, or the conclusion that its existence may signal an involvement here as well? He also didn't say there are going to be, he said he wouldn't be surprised, which is a large difference in the context of your reaction.

I dispute that anything is more than his opinion on what will happen. I dispute that its not political.

 

[Synovia]

I'll say it ...THERE WILL BE BACK ROOM DEALINGS...and they have already taken place. DeMaurice Smith took a large group of player reps into Congress recently for a series of meet and greets with various reps. ...
NFL players meet with Congress members to round up political support

When you meet IN CONGRESS, its not back room dealings.

 

[Wretch]

The NFL will never wind up like GM. GM does a horrible job at competing, the NFL does not have to compete.

I think a legitimate arguement can be made that the NFL does compete, with MLB, NBA, NASCAR, and the NHL for both athletes and audiences.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Autos, banks, energy, healthcare, pro sports, college sports...etc etc etc....This is not a trend, these are facts. Congressmen, Senators, and the Executive Branch have weighed in on all these industries ( and sports is big business) just in the last few months. Football and Congress are intertwined, that is fact. Pretending that that the federal gov't will not be a factor in these negotiations is naive. The two have been adjoined in the past and will be in the future.

That, although current politics are completely irrelevant- the antitrust exemption means that the the ownership cartel exists only because the gov't allows it to. Without the exemption, the owners would be in violation of tons of laws, most notably the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Therefore, when there is a labor dispute, Congress pretty much must step in, because it has created the conditions that allowed for the dispute in the first place. In almost any other industry, what the owners are doing is textbook collusion, for starters, so for better or worse Congress has to make sure that they're not abusing their antitrust exemption.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I think a legitimate arguement can be made that the NFL does compete, with MLB, NBA, NASCAR, and the NHL for both athletes and audiences.

Indirect competitors, maybe. Definitely not direct. NFL has no direct competitors.

 

[Wretch]

Indirect competitors, maybe. Definitely not direct. NFL has no direct competitors.

I guess the question is what are the sporting leagues competing for, audience market share, ad revenue, television contracts? Athletes who choose not to specialize in a sport can potentially have the opportunity to sign with a different league or multiple leagues.

If I chose to specialize in a skill set that would make me attractive to a single employer and then couldn't find work that's my fault not the employers. Most professional athletes have made a choice to limit their skill sets and by extension their employment opportunities.

As long as the player have the right to collectively bargain I don't see antitrust issues, but I am not a lawyer (only married to one).

If you only consider other football leagues competition then I will concede the point.