AFL owners announced yesterday that they have "voted to
cancel" the 2000 season due to a pending antitrust suit that
a group of players has brought against the 13-year-old
league seeking better working conditions, according to Mark
Singelais of the Albany TIMES UNION. The owners reached
their decision after meeting in Chicago yesterday, and AFL
Deputy Commissioner Ron Kurpiers "notified players of the
cancellation in a pair of conference calls" last night.
Singelais writes that "it wasn't immediately clear whether
the owners' decision is irrevocable, or if the season could
still be saved should the players agree to unionize."
Kurpiers said that the owners "can't afford the cost of
defending a lawsuit," and he estimated that the league's 15
teams last season "collectively lost" $20M. Training camps
were scheduled to open on March 19, and the season was to
begin on April 13. But players attorney Mark Levinstein
"raised the possibility that a federal court could force the
league to open by ruling it violated antitrust laws."
Levinstein: "What's happening here is illegal. They (the
owners) are going to get sued by the [NLRB]. You can't
threaten employees and say, `If you don't form a union, I'm
going to shut down the business.'" Although the players
appeared to be "close" to forming a union this week with the
Teamsters Union becoming their official bargaining agent,
efforts stalled due to what the league claimed was
"interference" by the United Food and Commercial Workers
Int'l Union, which is backing the lawsuit (Albany TIMES
UNION, 2/25). In San Jose, Sheldon Spencer writes that the
owners "wanted to address those concerns" of the players
over limited salaries and restricted free agency only if the
"majority of the [them] agreed to align with the league-
approved" Teamsters Union. Levinstein, on the owners
cancelling the season: "(This move) would be completely
irrational unless the end result will be that (the players)
will form a union. As soon as (the owners) get it through
their heads that that's never going to happen, maybe they'll
start thinking about the fans for once and get back to
playing football" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/25). But
Rattlers President Bryan Colangelo said, "It's obviously
unfortunate. It's something that needed to be done to
protect the integrity of the league" (AZ REPUBLIC, 2/25).
RAY OF HOPE? In Orlando, Jerry Greene cited
"unconfirmed reports" that "indicated the league might be
giving itself a 48-hour window to change its mind if the
Teamsters do form a union." League officials had no
comment. Predators WR Barry Wagner: "I can't believe our
league would give up without a fight" (ORL SENTINEL, 2/25).
