Reality Sinks in as Lockout Promises to Linger
While this NFL latest work stoppage plays itself out, thousands of peripheral employees and interested parties will be scrambling to make ends meet. I’m sure you’ve all read about this demographic ad nauseum. Get used to it, its just the beginning.
NFL owners and players, on the other hand, will all be fine financially. The majority of them will feel little or no impact from the current labor impasse. You’ll hear about how they really want to get a deal done and how much they empathize with the little guy and the fan.
Yeah, right.
There are some that hoped the two sides could settle this thing quickly, opening up free agency, setting a salary cap and normalizing business before the draft. That scenario is a pipe dream now.
This morning, the initial hearing of the lawsuit brought by the players in an attempt to prevent the owners from locking them out, was set for April 6th, some three weeks from now. In the interim, we wait.
If you have any experience with the U.S. legal system, you’ll know there is no guarantee anything occurs on April 6th. Court decisions and opinions have a way of lingering. This could go on for some time.
The draft will be held, but who knows what that will look like. Teams will reshuffle their draft boards since they won’t have signed any free agents to augment their rosters. There is also the push by the NFLPA to have top draftees boycott the draft in NYC next month.
In the meanwhile, the NFL will most likely lose major points with the casual fan, a swath of customers that had jumped on board the speeding train the last decade or so. They will also come under pressure from the media (neither side will get any relief on this site) and the powers that be.
Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) is moving to exert the government’s authority in the dispute.
“At a time when the economy is struggling and the NFL has chosen to lock out its players, it is particularly inappropriate to allow the league to benefit from a special antitrust exemption….economically ravaged cities like Detroit, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Buffalo. In that context it is appropriate for Congress to revoke an exemption that serves to unbalance the playing field between the parties.”
Conyers’ intent is noble but his efforts have already met opposition with other House Judiciary Committee members who believe the government should sit this one out.
A high, dry period is upon us, I’m afraid. The fans should prepare for a quiet spring and summer. Those who depend on the NFL for all or a portion of their livelihood will be out of luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment