In most labor disputes, it’s not difficult to pick sides. Just support the little guy. It’s easy to root for a worker trying to raise a family on $30,000 a year when he's struggling to get a 5% raise from a CEO that makes millions. Yet the looming NFL lockout is not your typical labor dispute. The NFL owners are planning to shut down professional football when the contract with the players runs out in March unless the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) agrees to give the owners a larger share of the revenue.
The owners claim that they can’t afford to continue under the current contract terms. According to Commissioner Goodell (who works for the owners), profits are down sharply since the players receive 59% of the revenue under the current agreement. While NFL players are no Joe six pack, the owners are far better off considering the average NFL team is valued at over 1 billion dollars.
The simple truth is that football is a Big Business with partners that disagree how to divide the revenue. The breakdown is far more complex than a simple percentage divide. And while players make huge salaries, after 5 years most are out of the game. Often they face lifetime medical problems -- how much are players entitled to for their high risk occupation?
I have no idea. But... I know how reasonable business people operate. When I ran a manufacturing company and we had a bad year, I showed the employees the books and asked everyone (including me) to consider a pay cut so we could all keep our jobs. The NFL owners aren’t showing anyone the books.
If the NFL owners really need a bigger share of the pie, the answer is simple; stop playing power games, open the books and let the players (and the public) see the numbers for themselves.