August 31, 2009 • 9:14 am 0
As you may have seen over at ProFootballTalk, the former Director of Human Resources of the NFLPA under Gene Upshaw has filed a lawsuit against the union. This isn’t directly related to the CBA, but it is a reminder that the NFLPA has its own internal issues, politics, and rivalries to solve while the big CBA negotiations are progressing.
Filed under: NFLPA
August 28, 2009 • 10:21 am 0
If you’ve been reading along or have read the About page, you know that I’m writing this blog because I’m trying to education educate myself about the collective bargaining process in the NFL. Well, I’m learning. Earlier, I posted an entry about whether the NFL should be required to fully open its books for the NFLPA to review. I tried to distinguish the Silverman v. MLB PRC case, noting that the court found the PRC (MLB’s “Player Relation Committee”) was the negotiating party to the agreement, not the MLB commissioner.
Quick recap: The MLB union had argued that the commissioner had publicly discussed the league’s supposedly poor finances as a rationale for its position in the CBA, which meant that the union should be able to look at the league’s books. The court, however, held that the Player Relation Committee was the party with whom the union was negotiating, NOT the commissioner. Because that committee (supposedly) hadn’t invoked the issue of the league’s poor finances, the league was not required to open its books.
SO. That’s a long way of saying that my initial dismissal of this argument isn’t exactly right. The NFL is represented in the labor negotiations by its own committee, the National Football League Management Council (NFLMC). The latest information (found at the SportsBusinessJournal) shows that the following team owners and presidents sit on the NFLMC:
Look for comments from these folks about finances. We already have Mark Murphy talking about how salaries are rising faster than revenues. But you’ll notice that Kraft and Bowlen have spoken in very general terms about finances or the process. We’ll follow these folks, but let us know if you see any interesting comments.
Needless to say, I would have realized this if I went ahead and read the CBA, which states that the NFLMC is “recognized as the sole and exclusive bargaining representative of present and future employer member Clubs of the National Football League . . . .” Oh well. I’m digging into the CBA and will be posting about the various provisions.
Also, we’ve added these folks to the RadRev Cast of Characters.
Filed under: NFL revenue, NFLMC, labor law , Robert Kraft, Mark Murphy, MLB, Sports Business Journal, Pat Bowlen, Jerry Richardson, Mike Brown, Bill Ford, Clark Hunt, Jerry Jones, John Mara, Art Rooney
• 8:21 am 0
Section XXXIII of the 2006 CBA dictates the number of players that can be on the roster for each NFL team: 45 (there’s a separate section for the number of practice squad [XXXIV]). With the possibility that the season will be extended to 18+ games, there’s been some talk about expanding the rosters. Bill Belichick isn’t buying. He’s afraid that an expanded team will lead to too much specialization and turn off the fans:
“There is a certain movement out there among different teams and coaches and media, and so forth, about expanding the rosters. They are saying if we have more players [on game day], we’re already paying a certain number of guys, so why not let them all play? But I think the downside of that, the more players you have, the more specialization you have.
“So now you have a kickoff guy, a field-goal guy, a snapper, a punt return guy, a kickoff return guy, a blocking tight end on goal line, a receiving tight end on third down. Then defensively you need all the people to match those, so before you know it, you have a plus-50 punt return guy, then you have a guy on a long field to return punts, you have a lot of ball-handling situations.
“So yeah, you can take the roster to 70 and find a spot for everybody, for that one situation, kind of like in college – you have a field-goal snapper, you have a punt snapper, you get 20 guys to do 20 different things. I’m not sure that is good for the game. … I don’t know if the fans want to see that or don’t want to see that. I think that’s an interesting question. Do they want to see 50 guys out there playing, or do they want to see 30 they know and can keep track of?”
Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe was reporting Belichick’s thoughts here. As a side note, it looks like ESPN is trying to go local and has poached Reiss, an outstanding football reporter, for it’s new ESPNBoston. Good luck, Mike!
Filed under: extended schedule , Bill Belichick, Boston Globe, CBA Section XXXIII, CBA Section XXXIV, ESPN, Mike Reiss
August 26, 2009 • 8:51 am 0
Here’s an interesting (for the lawyers or insurers) article from SportsLawTalk about the NFL and workers’ compensation off-sets:
SLT- Would you tell us about “credit” or offset issue that has been a point of contention for many years between NFL clubs and injured players seeking workers’ compensation disability payments?
RW- This issue has been litigated for nearly 30 years in jurisdictions around the country. The clubs have contended that the standard player contract and the law in many states entitles them to offset post injury salary or injury protection payments against workers’ compensation benefits on a “dollar for dollar” basis. This would effectively eliminate or greatly devaluate most workers’ compensation claims since NFL salaries greatly exceed workers’ compensation payments. The NFLPA and its workers’ compensation panel attorneys have contended there should only be an offset during the time salary payments are actually made. Our firm successfully litigated this issue both against the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. In both cases the court ruled the offset should be applied on a “time” and not a “dollar for dollar” basis. The current NFL CBA for the first time now provides a uniform formula for determining how offsets should be taken so, for the time being the issue has been laid to rest
I think it’s a fairly settled issue from the last CBA, but who knows . . . maybe the owners want a different formula
Filed under: other CBA provisions , SportsLawTalk, workers compensation
August 25, 2009 • 11:51 am 0
The National Sports Review loves them some Favre:
With the above for a resume, why DeMaurice Smith is head of the NFL Player’s Association is beyond understanding. There is only one man who can look Roger Goodell and 32 owners in their eyes and somehow force them to capitulate to his wishes ————- Brett Fave.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
You gotta love Brett Favre.
Filed under: NFLPA , Brett Favre
• 9:30 am 0
Last week, the New York Times had an article about the different rookie draft/signing systems among the various professional sports leagues. The always interesting “Bethlehem Shoals” takes the article one more step, asking his readers to give a little respect to the NBA system. Here’s his take on the NFL system:
To review, in case you live under a glass ceiling: In MLB, as we’ve seen in the strange case of Stephen Strasburg (whom I’m used to thinking of as some ancient baron of wars gone by, so noble is his name, so vast his reputation), bonuses turn the draft into free agency with some nominal order of selection. The NFL is closer to the light: “In the N.F.L., there is a rookie salary pool, and each team can divide up the money however it wishes, as long as it does not exceed the total.”
Sounds springy in theory, but in practice, these negotiations can drag out. Plus, given the utter impotence of the NFL Players Association, it’s odd that one of the few places they have the upper hand is in the matter of future superstars. If you’re going to slowly kill players on the field, run them out of the league quick fast, and guarantee little, at least have a token triumph for the little guy once reality has sunk in about his pro career.
Filed under: rookie salary cap , Bethlehem Shoals
• 8:06 am 0
Here’s a quick rundown of who we have identified to date as participating in the negotiations, or at least those commenting publicly. Give it a look through and let us know who we’ve left off in the comments.
Filed under: NFLPA, NFLPA Player Representatives, Roger Goodell
August 24, 2009 • 8:26 pm 0
ProFootballTalk had a little inside politics piece that I thought I’d just pass along as we create the record of this CBA. I have no idea if there is any truth to this rumor or not, but here it is:
[NFLPA outside counsel Jeffrey] Kessler told Mullen that, regarding the early-stage labor negotiations, management has not “come forward with a serious proposal so that we can begin fruitful negotiations.”
Added Kessler: “While [Executive Director] De [Smith] remains optimistic that the parties can reach a deal this year, thus far the owners have apparently not been in a position to . . . move the ball forward.”
It’s not that Kessler is exaggerating; based on things we’ve heard, his observations are completely accuarate. The problem is that Kessler has become a polarizing figure, and that some regard his ongoing front-line involvement as a mistake.
“Kessler is still spokesman for the NFLPA on labor issues,” one labor-side league source said in the wake of the Mullen article. “Bad news for getting a deal. Smith needs to reel this guy in — yesterday.”
But there are signs that the NFLPA is in the process of phasing Kessler out.
Background: http://fourthandgoalunites.com/2009/03/21/kessler-on-the-way-out/
Filed under: NFLPA , Jeffrey Kessler, ProFootballTalk
• 1:15 pm 0
Jeff Pash, the NFL’s lead lawyer (GC/VP), stated the league’s case in an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last Friday:
“The notion that our goal is to shut down the NFL is nonsense,” said Pash, vice president and general counsel of the NFL.
He said a shutdown would be “very costly” for owners and players and predicted that both sides would strike a deal over the next two seasons.
. . .
Pash said the league isn’t demanding a cut in players’ salaries but rather is seeking a lasting deal before the current contract expires in 2011. He said the athletes need to realize that football’s business model has changed radically since the current contract was first negotiated in 1993.
Back then, Pash said, the Miami Dolphins were the only NFL team that owned their own stadium.
Today, owners increasingly must sink vast capital expenditures into building and maintaining modern stadiums to remain financially competitive. Pash said that recent borrowing by the New York Giants, New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys from the NFL’s $1.5 billion revolving loan fund for their new stadiums had “wiped it out.”
So, basically, the owners admit they’ve screwed the pooch by mismanaging new stadium growth. That’s what’s changed since 1993. As noted earlier today, I don’t think this is a very effective PR pitch for the league. We took on too much debt! That’s a stale tune these days.
(h/t @GAtallah)
Filed under: NFL revenue , Jeff Pash, stadium financing
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