National Football League officials announced a deal yesterday to end the 136-day lockout. Player reps unanimously voted, 32-0, to ratify terms to a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement. Players can return to their team’s facility starting today for volunteer workouts since being banned from entering over four months ago. A key sticking-point for the deal was that the players could use their team’s facility to hold meetings in order to recertify as a union. Up until now, the owners had denied that request. Players will now be allowed to use the facilities to tentatively discuss topics they were previously not allowed to discuss. Once a union again, player reps can vote on topics like player discipline fines, league drug programs and workers comp. Owners can point to victories, such as gaining a higher percentage of all revenue – they get 53%, players 47%; the old deal was closer to 50-50. There’s also a new system that will rein in spending on contracts for first-round draft picks. Players, meanwhile, persuaded teams to commit to spending nearly all of their salary cap space in cash and won changes to offseason and in-season practice rules that should make the game safer. One important compromise came on expanding the regular season from 16 to 18 games, which owners favored. That can be revisited for the 2013 season, but players must approve any change.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
NFL Lockout Over
National Football League officials announced a deal yesterday to end the 136-day lockout. Player reps unanimously voted, 32-0, to ratify terms to a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement. Players can return to their team’s facility starting today for volunteer workouts since being banned from entering over four months ago. A key sticking-point for the deal was that the players could use their team’s facility to hold meetings in order to recertify as a union. Up until now, the owners had denied that request. Players will now be allowed to use the facilities to tentatively discuss topics they were previously not allowed to discuss. Once a union again, player reps can vote on topics like player discipline fines, league drug programs and workers comp. Owners can point to victories, such as gaining a higher percentage of all revenue – they get 53%, players 47%; the old deal was closer to 50-50. There’s also a new system that will rein in spending on contracts for first-round draft picks. Players, meanwhile, persuaded teams to commit to spending nearly all of their salary cap space in cash and won changes to offseason and in-season practice rules that should make the game safer. One important compromise came on expanding the regular season from 16 to 18 games, which owners favored. That can be revisited for the 2013 season, but players must approve any change.
