The NFLPA ratified a new 10-year labor deal over the weekend, and the passing margin of 60 votes, or 3%, "reflected the level of discontent with key elements of the deal, most notably the expansion of the regular season," according to Ken Belson of the N.Y. TIMES. Winning approval is a "major victory for the owners, who have pushed hard to close a deal with the players so they can focus on negotiating the raft of broadcast rights contracts that expire in the coming years." Owners persuaded the players to "play a 17th game, the first expansion of the regular season since the league went to 16 games in 1978, and to increase the number of teams that qualify for the playoffs to 14 from 12." The 17th game could come as soon as '21, and the expanded playoffs could be as soon as this coming season. Owners also "agreed to eliminate one preseason game and to limit the number of padded practices that can be held during training camp." Players will get a bye week "after the third and final preseason game." The new agreement "curtails some of the commissioner’s powers to penalize players." In the new agreement, an arbitrator also "will be selected by the league and union to hear cases." The players will also "receive a share of revenue from gambling operations in stadiums, including wagers on other sports and games" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/16). In Detroit, Justin Rogers notes an independent auditor "verified, tallied and certified the results" of the vote on Saturday night (DETROIT NEWS, 3/16).
MAKING IT HAPPEN: NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith on the biggest wins for players said, "In a collective bargaining agreement that instantly raised the salaries of our core by 20%, that benefit or that increase goes into effect a year earlier than it would have." Smith said in a country where "virtually no large company is creating new pensions and certainly not increasing pensions, we are a large corporation in the United States that not only has secured pensions for another three, four, generations of players, but also increased the pensions of every former player prior to 2011, and bringing them up to a 2011 standard for their pensions." On calls that the players could have gotten more in exchange for a 17th game, Smith said, "In any game, in any political contest, there is always going to be speculation about whether you could have gotten more.” Smith: “What we have done, and what I have always insisted on, is at times being brutally honest with our membership about what’s on the table.” He added, “The leverage that we had now was strong, and it’s known leverage. We know when the TV contracts expire. We know what the economy was projected to look like, and that was even before the things that have happened in the last 72 hours.” Smith: “I certainly hear people who say, ‘Look, De, you guys are going to have as much if not more leverage next year.’ The only thing I would say to that is, negotiating a deal where if the answer is no that you find yourself out of work, I would argue that that is less leverage than we have now” (“ESPN Daily,” ESPN.com, 3/16).
CORONAVIRUS EFFECT: The NFLPA’s late voters swung toward yes as the coronavirus news continued to develop on Friday and Saturday, a source familiar with the process said. As of Thursday -- when the voting window was originally supposed to end -- the vote was nearly tied, the source said, only to end up winning by 60 votes out of 1,978 cast (Ben Fischer, THE DAILY). YAHOO SPORTS' Charles Robinson noted the deal "may have caught a tailwind late in the week," with the spread of the coronavirus "wreaking havoc on the stock market and creating uncertain economic conditions heading into the fall election season" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/15). THE ATHLETIC's Daniel Kaplan noted the coronavirus "may ultimately have solidified the uncertainty argument for just enough players" (THEATHLETIC.com, 3/15).
IMPACT ON SCHEDULE: NBCSPORTS.com's Peter King notes the league is "operating on the belief that all NFC teams one season will play nine home games and eight on the road one year, and the next year, all AFC teams will be home nine times and away eight." There also "won’t be neutral-site games, or a huge increase in games" outside the U.S. The 16 additional games "could be used, all or in part, to create a lucrative new package of games to be streamed by an Amazon or Facebook, a deep-pocketed new media company" (NBCSPORTS.com, 3/16).
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE DEAL:
- USA TODAY lists the "most significant differences in the new CBA from the previous one," and how it will "impact the league and its players" (3/16).
- THE ATHLETIC's Kaplan lists 10 "important changes" in the new deal (3/15).
- Players will "make more money and players will get injured" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 3/16).
- The new deal "will run for 10 years" through '30, meaning the NFL will go 20 years "without a work stoppage" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/16).
- The new CBA will be "worth an additional" $650-700M for the players in '20 alone (WASHINGTON POST, 3/16).
- It will have an "instant impact on roughly 60% of players, who are presently on minimum salaries and will now receive a $100,000 raise" (BOSTON HERALD, 3/16).
- Another benefit for players is that they will "no longer be suspended for positive marijuana tests" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/15).
- More than 11,000 retirees "will see their pensions increase, some by as much as 60%" (L.A. TIMES, 3/16).
- The new salary cap also "is set at $198.2 million per team" for the upcoming season (K.C. STAR, 3/16).
UNION STATION: In N.Y., Mark Cannizzaro notes the theme of the new deal is "how beneficial it is for the 'middle class' rank-and-file," but in the end, there are "enough benefits for both sides that this made enough sense" (N.Y. POST, 3/16). USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell notes there were "no charges of voter fraud," just some "grumbling about players who didn’t vote and a razor-thin margin that underscores a polarization not unlike the political climate that exists in our nation at large." The coming months will be "so interesting, as damage from the process -- including criticisms of NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith -- is assessed." It "sure seems like more of a win for the players than it did two weeks ago, before the stock market tanked magnificently amid the coronavirus crisis." Although Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey "maintained that 'around 500 players' didn’t cast ballots, nearly 2,000 players voted." That is "at least more than 80% of the dues-paying NFLPA membership." The labor pact was in "many ways a referendum on Smith’s leadership, and the narrow margin clearly shows the work that must be done for rebuilding the credibility and trust among the NFLPA leadership" (USA TODAY, 3/16).
WHO WON? USA TODAY's Mike Jones writes in the end, the "silent majority won out." The new deal features "a lot of good, and it means that the players take another step toward equal footing with their employers" (USA TODAY, 3/16). But in N.Y., Pat Leonard writes the "primary issues and the fine print promise to reveal why this deal was dangerous for the players to accept." Attorneys have "warned that the new, dramatically expanded health and safety section of the CBA could protect NFL franchises against litigation related to malpractice that has been fair game in the past." Any player argument that an NFL team is "unfairly jeopardizing his health, life and future connected to concussions would seem to be compromised by this vote in favor of playing a full extra game per year" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/16). THE RINGER's Kevin Clark wrote right now, the league "gets to take its newfound labor certainty to TV networks as it tries to wrap up billions of dollars in new television deals." Once that happens, more money "will be transferred to the players" (THERINGER.com, 3/15).
