Progress toward getting a new NFL labor deal done before the CBA expires on March 4 appear to have stalled, as a decision was made following yesterday's bargaining session to cancel scheduled talks today. One source said that today's session between the NFL and NFLPA was canceled due to lack of progress. NFLPA officials did not respond to multiple phone calls and e-mails. NFL Senior VP/PR Greg Aiello declined to answer questions about the negotiations, saying, "We are not confirming, denying or commenting on CBA meetings" (Liz Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal). NFL Network's Jason La Canfora reported both sides "thought that this week could maybe build some momentum and start hacking away at certain issues," but they currently are "at a loggerhead." La Canfora, "It's not as if they won't talk in the future though. They do still have other meetings scheduled, they do still hope to make progress on a CBA and at some point establish the kind of momentum hour after hour, day after day that it will take to strike a deal." Canceling today's meeting is a "hiccup and, obviously, indicates just the wide gulf and the range of difficult issues they still have to overcome" ("NFL Total Access," NFL Network, 2/9). Meanwhile, PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio cites sources as saying that a "league ownership meeting scheduled for next week has been canceled, too" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 2/10).
WHERE IT WENT WRONG: ESPN’s Chris Mortensen cited player sources as saying that NFL owners "walked away from the negotiating table" when the NFLPA “proposed to take an average of 50 percent of all revenue generated by the league.” A source said that yesterday’s meeting “started off badly” when the owners' negotiating team “interpreted the union's proposal of a 49-to-51 percent take as ‘total revenue’ instead of the union's intended percentage take of ‘all revenue.’” The players source said that “in addition to the flat 50 percent share of all revenue, players are willing to grant additional credits to any franchise that reinvests in stadium improvement, a mechanism to incentivize clubs to grow revenues.” NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith “briefed club player representatives in a conference call” last night on the session that "fell far short of the seven hours that was scheduled" (ESPN.com, 2/10). A source said the talks foundered in part because the league again declined the union’s request that the NFL fully open their financial books, as well as over a union request to simply extend the current contract. An owners meeting in Philadelphia next Tuesday to update the owners on the CBA was also cancelled. The owners have a conference call scheduled for today (Kaplan & Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal).
LOT OF MISTRUST ON BOTH SIDES: ESPN's Adam Schefter noted there will be a "lot of posturing between now and whenever there's a collective bargaining agreement." Schefter: "The bottom line is there's tremendous mistrust between both sides. ... When you're not making any progress and there's nothing that anybody can pin their hat on, there's no reason to even meet. The fact that they can't even meet tells you that. How are they going to do a deal when they're not even meeting? Very discouraging." Meanwhile, there "continues to be questions about" Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson and his "hawkish ways" in the negotiating room. Schefter said, "There's some people that are very leery of him in that room. ... Keep an eye on him, because there are some people that are being rubbed the wrong way by him" ("Mike & Mike in the Morning," ESPN Radio, 2/10). However, Jets DE Jason Taylor said, "I don't see why it needs to be adversarial. ... Let's not mess this up fighting over the money" ("Inside The NFL," Showtime, 2/9).
SMITH IN A TOUGH SPOT: Showtime's Michael Lombardi noted Smith "is in a tough spot" with the negotiations. Lombardi: "He's been elected to lead the union and he knows he has to take a deal less than the one that he inherited ... because the owners opted out of the last deal." Showtime's Cris Collinsworth said, "A lot of the owners are worried that DeMaurice Smith has to make some sort of a stand. He has political aspirations after the fact. He has to come up with some sort of a win. He can't come off as being soft and maybe caved on a March 4th deadline" ("Inside the NFL," Showtime, 2/9).
SAY IT AIN'T SO: In Cleveland, Bud Shaw notes by most measures, the NFL has "never been more popular, and that's a little scary as the owners and players threaten to huff and puff and blow each other's houses down." Owners "might just think fans will be waiting for them as eager as ever when the lockout ends and a new collective bargaining agreement is reached." But Shaw writes, "Where does the NFL come off thinking we're hopelessly addicted to what it's selling? Already emboldened by billions in TV money to help them ride out the storm, owners don't seem particularly worried about the PR hit. They know, of course, the players always take the brunt of that, even if the owners are locking out their employees" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 2/10). Crain's Chicago Business' Ed Sherman said, "From the owners' perspective, they could really hold the line and take a little bit of a hit, but they're not going to lose any games until September. I don't see what their incentive is to come to an agreement if they don't get exactly what they want" ("Chicago Tribune Live," Comcast SportsNet Chicago, 2/9). But in Illinois, Barry Rozner writes the NFL is "just too big and too good right now for Roger Goodell to let anything bad happen to it." A lockout "probably will occur and might be necessary to get the groups to the table and talking seriously." But Rozner adds, "Don’t worry about the rhetoric, and don’t get caught up in the negotiating lows and highs. There will be a full NFL season" (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 2/10).
