_JPG.jpg)
If you’re an avid fan of the NFL (like I am) there is a two word that can send shivers down your spine followed by the paling of skin, shortness of breath and physical freezing. Two words that can ruin your entire autumn season before it even starts, you know what I’m talking about….. NFL LOCKOUT.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term lockout, it means when the owners and the players of a professional sports league, cannot come to a consensus on certain issues pertaining to the league, the owners locked out the players from team facilities and shut down league operations. Major issues disputed can include the salary cap, players' safety and health benefits, revenue sharing and television contracts, transparency of financial information, rookie salaries, season length, and free agency guidelines.
Recently, rumors have been flying around about a potential lockout coming in the 2021 season, these rumors are due to Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley who in the last few weeks has been a very active spokesperson for current NFL players, coming out and saying that the NFLPA (National Football League Players Association) should prepare for a lockout when the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2020 season.
The main controversy focusing on the need for more guaranteed money in NFL players contracts. Specifically, citing the amount of money NBA players make on their contracts, compared to what NFL players make on theirs. "Us NFL players, we're just mad about NBA contracts right now, that's all," the Rams star told Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. "I just want like $80 million. Those guys are getting like $150 [million]. It's crazy. It's insane."
“Considering football's level of brute, immanent physicality, high turnover as well as the short life cycle of its participants, it would seem to me that NFL players are in the most need of fully guaranteed contracts,” Gurley states in an interview with TMZ Sports. Gurley has some excellent points, for example:
The three-year deal Kirk Cousins received from the Minnesota Vikings in March of this past off-season was the first fully guaranteed multi-year deal in NFL history.
League-wide revenue has exceeded $14 billions dollars and the players do not even make half of it, under the current collective bargaining agreement from 2011 the players are capped at 48.5% while the NBA is a completely even 50-50 split.
According to Statista.com, the average playing career for a player in the NFL is about 3.3 years.
There were more injuries this past year in the NFL (2017) than ever before, with an average of 6.9 injuries per game on Thursday Night games and 6.3 injuries per game on Sunday and Monday games. These numbers have increased steadily every year since 2007.
Last year the NBA had a $94 million salary cap with a quarter of the players of the NFL, which had a $155 million salary cap—obviously not great for NFL players.
While Gurley and his fellow NFL counterparts do have very valid points on why they should receive guaranteed money, there is one thing that is going to stop them from achieving it – Unity.
It’s simple. There are 32 NFL owners and there are roughly 1,696 NFL players. Which do you think is easier to keep united? It all comes down to one thing, you guessed it, MONEY.
Players may be worth millions, but the owners are worth billions and players still have bills to pay. The pay gap between NFL players is too great, guys who aren’t making star-caliber contracts would cross enemy territory and give in, if it meant they could support their families. The owners make guaranteed money themselves from league-wide TV contracts. Even if an NFL lockout comes to fruition, the league is set to pocket nearly $8 billion dollars of TV revenue, which is split up evenly between the 32 NFL teams. Because of the way the NFL negotiated its television contracts, preparing for the possibility of the lockout in the process, the league revenue will continue to flow, even if no games are played during the 2021 season.
As Mike Freeman of the Bleacher Report put it, “When it comes to labor, it's the Patriots vs. the Browns, and we know who the Browns are in this case.”
However, hope is not completely lost for the players though because they have one advantage working for them – Time. With the potential strike approximately 4 seasons away, if the players start planning now they can gather the financial resources needed in order to hold out long enough to put enough financial and fan pressure on the owners, where they are the first to crack.
I feel obligated to note that there is nothing in the current collective bargaining agreement that prohibits NFL players from receiving fully guaranteed contracts, however, where the league is at currently, it is far from the norm.
Who knows who will win the dispute between the owners and the players in 2021, but one thing is for certain, it’s going to be inevitable.
Citations:
* All products require an annual contract. Prices do not include sales tax (New York residents only). “NFL: Average Career Length.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/240102/average-player-career-length-in-the-national-football-league/.
Fell, Jason. “Three Business Lessons from the NFL Lockout.” Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur, 25 July 2011, www.entrepreneur.com/article/220067.
Floyd, Brian. “NFL Lockout Won't Prevent Owners From Pocketing TV Money.” SBNation.com, SBNation.com, 2 Feb. 2011, www.sbnation.com/nfl/2011/2/2/1969645/nfl-lockout-owners-tv-revenue-players-union.
Frank, Vincent. “NFL Players Call For Guaranteed Contracts As Potential Work Stoppage Looms.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5 July 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/vincentfrank/2018/07/05/nfl-players-call-for-guaranteed-contracts-as-potential-work-stoppage-looms/.
Freeman, Mike. “Players Need to Do More Than Think About a Strike; They Need a Plan to Win One.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 3 Oct. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/2722443-players-need-to-do-more-than-think-about-a-strike-they-need-a-plan-to-win-one.
Healy, John. “Rams' Todd Gurley Says NFL Contracts Should Be Fully Guaranteed, Suggests Players Strike - NY Daily News.” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 5 July 2018, www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/ny-sports-todd-gurley-rams- contracts-lockout-20180705-story.html.
Wells, Adam. “Todd Gurley Says Players Must Prepare for NFL Lockout in 2021.” Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 20 July 2018, bleacherreport.com/articles/2787001-todd-gurley-says-players-must-prepare-for-nfl-lockout-in-2021.