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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NFL Lockout Watch, Day 98: Owners Reportedly In Conflict Over New CBA

An "internal battle is percolating at some of the highest NFL circles in which some owners are resisting the labor deal they've been trying to negotiate with the players," according to sources cited by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. A handful of NFL owners "believe the parameters of the deal being discussed don't adequately address the original issues the league wanted corrected" from the most-recent CBA. Sources added that now that the NFL and NFLPA "have begun to make some significant progress within the past week, some owners are pushing back against the deal again." It is "one of the primary reasons team officials are being prepped to stay an extra night in Chicago at Tuesday's owners meetings." It is "not to potentially vote on a new collective bargaining agreement, as many suspected; it actually is to try to fend off some of the resistance that is mounting from a handful of NFL owners." Some of the resistance "has caused the NFL to adjust its schedule next week, moving up the time of Tuesday's meeting and prepping teams to potentially have to stay into Wednesday." The league is "bracing for internal negotiations and lobbying that will impact how soon football could return." Schefter reports one NFL exec "has been urging the league for weeks that, in order for the full preseason schedule to be played, an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA would have to occur no later than July 14" (ESPN.com, 6/17). NFL.com's Albert Breer reported on Twitter, "Can confirm that the NFL is getting some resistance from within the ranks of the owners, as momentum builds in negotiations with players. ... In large part, the resisting owners are concerned about the economy tanking again, and getting protection in the case that it does" (TWITTER.com, 6/17).

POSITIVITY FROM THE OTHER SIDE: CBSSPORTS.com's Mike Freeman reported NFLPA officials "have informally told some individual team representatives that labor talks continue along a positive track and players should remain cautiously optimistic a deal could be reached in a matter of weeks." Sources said that the "message from the higher echelon of the NFLPA is that progress continues to be made." Individual team reps and "rank-and-file players began contacting various union officials" after a report earlier this week that CBA negotiations almost "blew up." Those players reportedly "were informed that the report mischaracterized the state of talks and that negotiations were actually moving in a positive direction." Jaguars TE Marcedes Lewis said, "Most players are in a wait and see mode. I think the general sense among the players is, 'Seems like now is a time to get a deal done.'" Freeman noted "one reason the talks have moved in a positive direction is the two sides are getting closer on how to split" the $9B in revenue. Once that "domino is toppled, many other issues could quickly fall in place" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/16). However, the Boston Globe's Greg Bedard wrote on Twitter, "Not sure what to make of this, but it's at least interesting to me that I'm not getting same 'this is almost done!' vibe from NFL as NFLPA" (TWITTER.com, 6/15).

TV GUIDE: In New Orleans, James Varney noted the NFL in October '12 "will accept the next round of bids for television rights," and the league "should become even more lucrative." Industry officials note that "no one knows just how rich the league might become, but there's a pot at the end of that rainbow, and it's casting a glow over the current stalemate." National Football Post President and ESPN analyst Andrew Brandt said that "it is 'certain' the 2012 bids are a looming issue" in the current CBA negotiations. Brandt added that "more than just television revenue is now in the pool, given the league is working additional deals in digital and broadband arenas." Varney noted "one topic that has received considerable attention is the owners' desire to stretch the regular season from 16 to 18 games." The impact of more regular-season games "wouldn't come through beer and ticket sales or snaps, but through an increase in revenue from packages the NFL could market to cable channels." As a result, the league and players "aren't simply fighting over the 60/40 split on revenues" as it stands right now, "but the division of tens of millions of additional dollars that would pour in beginning" with the '14 season, when new TV contracts would go into effect (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/16).

BROKEN PROMISES? In N.Y., Paul Schwartz reports Giants DE Osi Umenyiora in a sworn affidavit contends that team GM Jerry Reese, "prior to the 2008 season, promised him he'd receive a substantial raise or else be traded if he played at a high level -- a promise Umenyiora claims Reese did not keep." Umenyiora's "disenchantment is the main reason" the NFLPA included him as "one of the players named in the Brady v NFL antitrust lawsuit, insisting the lockout has irreparably harmed him because he cannot sign a new deal or get traded with the business of the league shut down." The affidavit is expected to be filed next month in federal court in Minnesota as part of the players' antitrust suit (N.Y. POST, 6/17).

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