The looming threat of the NFL continues for 2011-2012. It’s the NFL Lockout, the sports equivalent of the Actors Strike and Writers Strike. However, the pivotal issue being fumbled is that of a new proposed bargaining agreement that suggests the owners want more revenue than they are getting.

In previous seasons, owners took roughly one billion dollars from revenue of about nine billion dollars. However, team owners state that due to the recession (or in their words “the economic realities of the era”) they want over a 100% raise, citing $2.4 billion dollars as their aim.

How’s that for a reversal of fortune? This time it’s the big wigs and executives who want a pay hike rather than the “talent.” What does this mean for our LaDainian Tomlinson’s and Tom Brady’s? This means that players would have to take a revenue cut of 18%. Gee, does this seem likely to you?

This is not to suggest that the locker room is unanimously against the proposal. Some players do understand where these costs are coming from, as many team owners are investing big money in remodeled stadiums and other important promotional expenses. Some sources are suggesting that the players want to retain a 50/50 split of revenue, which the owners are adamantly countering with an offer of 51-49.

If the worst-case scenario happens and there is no NFL 2011-2012, this will not only hurt the league and the sport but hosting cities and essentially the entire United States. The NFL Lockout website states that an estimated $160 million would be lost in each NFL city; in addition to 115,000 jobs. The worst-case scenario looks scary indeed.

However, as of June 6, 2011, sources (like Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal) are optimistic, but slightly muted in enthusiasm. The NFL is planning for a season this year, though it could be as little as eight games, possibly started by the last quarter of 2011. While this isn’t as exciting as a full season on schedule, it does offer some hope that there will not be a total “lockout” due to poor negotiations between the NFL and the players association (NFLPA).

Talk of a lockdown has been happening since last year’s Super Bowl. These boys have until October to make a deal. You can bet NFL tickets will go fast with such a potentially short season. Stay tuned for more information on the lockout on the StubPass.com blog.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 at 6:07 pm and is filed under NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.