After 58 days and still waiting for a judge’s decision
After 58 days and still waiting for a judge’s decision, the players have make of this work stoppage the longest ever reported in pro football history.
Money makes the world go round and money also makes the NFL go on lockout. What money? A $4 billion lockout fund created this year by the league with a percentage from the 2009 and 2010 TV income, under terms of the stipulation and settlement agreement that the NFL Player Association were not in favor of, as it was based on the last Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in March 2006, which expired on March 3. What lockout? The one all this conflict led to after the players and the league were unable to renegotiate a new contract one week later after the contract expired, extra week that they thought would be enough to work things out.
But what are the postures that keep them from reaching to good terms? The NFLPA feels that the league doesn’t need that fund to cover operations during this lockout, since they just renegotiated the TV contracts for 2011, reason that makes them claim that $4 billion TV revenue off limits to the league, and be awarded $707 million for the damages caused.
On the other hand the league claims that they are not planning on using that money this season, and that therefore in word of their attorney Gregg Levy their request “would in effect give the players some entitlement to that money which we don’t believe they are entitled to.”
Ten weeks have gone by since the case made it into the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis that both sides agreed on as mediator. The players exposed their case through an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL and the response from the league didn’t hesitate to arrive. They felt exposed to antitrust litigation and decided to officially begin the lockout that threatens the preseason from taking place.
To go back to the first and only time prior to this one that the preseason was jeopardize we have to go to 1974 when there were threats of a work stoppage, which eventually didn’t take place. The strikes that did take place where the ones from 1982 and 1987, but these two took place after the regular season had already officially kicked off.
This lockout was invalidated by the U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson on April 25th, who ordered the operations to be resumed by the league, but the order is on hold as there is a pending hearing to take place on June 3 at St. Louis.
Meanwhile, the players demand that money to be placed in an escrow through an expedite ruling on the injection request, which they believe is the right thing to do, because if they can’t have access to that fund, neither should the league.
We are not sure of what side you are on: whether it is on the league’s or the players’, but we do think this is irrelevant for all that really matters is ensuring that the 2011 NFL season begins on schedule.
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