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Pash Says 18-Game
Season Key To CBA |
NFL Exec VP & General Counsel Jeff Pash said Thursday that “it will be much easier to reach a new labor agreement with the players' union if the accord includes an 18-game regular season,” according to Howard Fendrich of the AP. Pash said, "It's something that both sides recognize the value of, and so both sides will work hard to incorporate it into the new agreement." Pash also said the league is "focused on a full 2011 season" and the owners want to have a new CBA in place "well before" the summer. Pash: "If both sides are equally committed and equally focused, then there's no reason why we can't get an agreement." Pash “doesn't have a drop-dead date in mind for getting a deal done in time to avoid missing games.” When asked whether the season could be played if there is not a new CBA in place until the summer, Pash said, "The goal is to have an agreement well before that." He “declined to provide details on where the negotiations stand right now,” but listed the “most prominent issues as economics, the 18-game season, the rookie salary system and free-agency rules.” Pash: "I would guess that there will be some inclination towards a longer-term deal rather than a shorter deal, but that all depends on what the deal looks like because obviously the longer out you go, the more risk both sides are taking." As talks move forward, Pash emphasized what he called "a shared responsibility to the fans" on the part of both sides (AP, 12/9).
KRAFT CONTINUES TO SHOW HOPE: Patriots Owner Robert Kraft has expressed optimism about a CBA deal getting done before the '11 season, and he said Friday on WEEI-AM's "Dennis & Callahan" show, "It would be criminal if we let this thing develop to a point where we had labor strife." He said, "Our ratings are so high and knowing what I know about the marketplace or people who want to continue to brand and attach themselves to us..." Kraft: "Just to put it in perspective, if we have a labor problem ... and at the last minute you settle, let’s say Labor Day weekend, we will collectively lose $1B of revenue. The players receive close to 60% of that revenue right now. In the new deal, it probably will be somewhere in the mid 50s. They still are the major beneficiaries. We will collectively lose that, and I think also aggravate the American public in a way that given these economic times ... I think there will be a tremendous backlash." He added, "The makings of the deal are there in my opinion, and I hope we are wise enough to do it” (WEEI-AM, 12/10).
