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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NFL Lockout Watch, Day 75: Pash Suggests League Could Face More Suits

The NFL suggested more antitrust lawsuits could be planned against the league, underscoring the need for the sport to settle with the players. “We hear talk about individual cases being brought and things like that,” NFL Exec VP/Labor & General Counsel Jeff Pash told reporters last night during a press conference after the first day of the owners meetings in Indianapolis. The league is worried that even if it were to settle with the 10 players suing the league for antitrust violation, other players, or future players, could sue. Only a recertified union agreeing to a CBA would provide the league with legal antitrust protection from facing such suits. Pash is urging both sides to essentially ignore the current lawsuit and return to collective bargaining. Of course, the union decertified precisely to be able to sue the league, so it is unclear if that will occur. Pash also suggested one area that is a central demand of the league’s -- to end the federal court system’s oversight of the labor relations between the players and league -- remains critical for the owners. “I don’t believe that the court supervision has contributed in any way to the labor peace that we’ve had from 1993 through 2010,” he said. The players by contrast wish to retain federal supervision. The other three major sports league have different dispute resolution mechanisms. The owners meetings are scheduled to end this afternoon, with the owners receiving a briefing on promotional plans for kickoff weekend (Daniel Kaplan, SportsBusiness Journal).

IT'S TIME TO WORK THINGS OUT: Colts Owner Jim Irsay yesterday insisted that if a new CBA "isn’t worked out by July 4 it would delay the start of training camp, probably result in the loss of several exhibition games and begin an economic slide that could have lasting impact on the stalled negotiations." Irsay said, "People have said the sense of urgency comes when we begin missing real games. I don’t believe that. There are real losses to be had if we start training camp Sept. 1 and play our first game on Sept. 20." In Boston, Ron Borges notes Irsay and Pash both claim that "upwards of $1 billion could soon be lost if a new CBA isn’t reached in time for the season to go forward as scheduled." But in order to do so, they "need a union to exist as much, if not more, than the players do" (BOSTON HERALD, 5/25). Meanwhile, NFL VP/Law & Labor Policy Adolpho Birch yesterday confirmed that the league "would consider turning over its testing program for performance-enhancing drugs" to WADA if it cannot reach an agreement with the players. In DC, Mark Maske notes the NFL's "collectively bargained drug-testing program is not in effect during the lockout." The league "has proposed blood-testing players for human growth hormone, something the players’ now dissolved union has resisted in the past." The union indicated during negotiations that it "would listen to the league’s proposal on the subject" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/25).

MORE DEADLINES COMING UP: NFL Network's Albert Breer reported "deadlines loom" for NFL teams as the lockout continues into the summer. The Jets by July 1 “must notify SUNY Courtland, where they've held camp the last two years, on their plans for this summer. The form the rest of the offseason takes will affect that decision making, and the team is already considering moving camp back home to Jersey. Examples like that exist throughout the league." NFL Network's Rich Eisen added, "Not to sound alarmist but there are international implications here because if there is no deal by August 1st, then the London game is going to be moved back to ... here in the United States" (“NFL Total Access,” NFL Network, 5/24).

Mason feels there are PR benefits to players
having to work out on their own
CHECKING IN: In DC, Mike Jones reports 41 Redskins players "gathered for a second round of informal workouts" yesterday at a northern Virginia high school, where they were joined by NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith. After the 90-minute practice, Smith "updated the players on the state of the league’s labor dispute and the NFLPA’s efforts." He also "fielded questions from the players." Smith declined interview requests, but the players "described his talk as encouraging" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/25). Redskins players said that Smith "stressed the importance of unity and updated them about upcoming litigation" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 5/25). Also yesterday, 27 Ravens players met in Baltimore "for the first of three days of informal conditioning and offensive drills." In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes the workout on the Towson Univ. campus "was as much a public relations event as it was a football activity." Ravens WR and player rep Derrick Mason "did not hide from the PR benefits that derive" from the practices, but he said that "was far outweighed by the practical considerations." Schmuck writes to the "credit of most of the players in attendance, they did not spend a lot of time bashing ownership." Most of the comments about the labor dispute were "relatively neutral and focused on the hope that the sides come to an agreement soon" (Baltimore SUN, 5/25).

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