July 4th Has Passed, The Pressure Is On Now..

We've passed that all important date that owner Jim Irsay talked about as being pivotal to beginning of the season without interuption. What now?

Pressure for labor deal grows

Some sticking points remain, and owners are keen to save lucrative preseason games


http://a.espncdn.com/i/columnists/Clayton_John_35.jpgBy John Clayton
ESPN.com
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http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0625...lmer01_576.jpgAl Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Preseason games may not be especially popular with fans, but they are money-makers for NFL owners. Reaching a deal soon would preserve the exhibition season. Although everyone has good vibes about the way talks are going between owners and players, this week is the most vital to start getting a deal done.

Talks without a deal can't go too much past July 4. The pressure is already obvious. The Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets ran out of time to plan training camps away from their headquarters, a blow to Ravens and Jets fans. The St. Louis Rams will probably be the next team to decide to stay at home.

The good news is that both sides can see what it takes to get a deal. Players must be able to sell 48 percent of all revenue in order to get the support of the former union. Owners need some flexibility in the middle of the CBA when they need cost credits for new stadiums. For those circumstances, players could lower their take to 46.5 percent.

The rookie wage scale remains an issue. It's not insurmountable, though. Although both sides are willing to slash the guarantees given to first-round picks by 50 percent, owners want five-year contracts and players want four years. With owners willing to go four-years-and-an option for picks 17 through 32, one slight adjustment could settle that debate.

Timing is everything. Owners have a lot to lose if the preseason slips away. The exhibition season is worth around $700 million to owners, money that goes almost directly to the franchise. Players make less than $2,000 a week. Owners share all the ticket sales money. Losing the preseason would cut revenue by $22 million a team. It's safe to say that this is an important week.

If an agreement isn't reached before July 15th the preseason will almost certainly be affected and with it significant revenue losses for the owners. Will this swing the "hardliners" among the owners to a softer stance in order to get a deal done? The players bargaining power seems to be growing again after their May setbacks at the hands of the Appeals Court.

Just an update further reinforcing the importance of an agreement on or before July 15th. In addition to the anti-trust suit in the Federal Courts the NY State AG office is beginning an investigation as to whether the lockout violates NY anti-trust laws. The heat is on!

Owners, NFLPA members meet in New York

By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer 1 hour, 11 minutes ago


NEW YORK (AP)—Members of the NFL Players’ Association executive board and team owners met for hours Thursday at a law firm in Manhattan, hoping another push could finally resolve the labor lockout that began in March. In addition to the latest round of negotiations, a conference call involving the plaintiffs in the players’ lawsuit against the league had been scheduled for Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
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The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the two sides are not announcing details of the labor situation.

The players group at the meeting included NFLPA president Kevin Mawae(notes), while the NFL owners were represented by Robert Kraft of the Patriots, John Mara of the New York Giants and Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith also joined the meeting.

Lawyers for both sides gathered on Tuesday and Wednesday to put together some of the paperwork that will be needed when a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement is struck.

Players and owners have been involved in six sets of negotiations around the country over the last several weeks, with pressure mounting to make a deal.

Some training camps are set to open in less than three weeks and the first exhibition game, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions, is Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio. Hall of Fame president Steve Perry has said the plan now is that the game will go on as scheduled. “They are now up against a hard deadline,” said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based sports business consulting firm Sportscorp Ltd., and a keen observer of the league’s business side. “July 15 is effectively a hard deadline to make sure to get all the preseason games in. If they go beyond July 15, you likely start losing preseason games and it means less money is available overall to do a deal to satisfy both parties.”

The pressure was turned up another notch with the New York attorney general’s office launching an investigation into whether the lockout violates the state’s antitrust laws. The players have already brought a federal antitrust lawsuit against the league in Minnesota.
New York Assistant Attorney General Richard Schwartz said in a letter this week to Goodell that the lockout will “inflict significant economic injuries statewide.” The Jets have canceled their planned training camp in the small upstate city of Cortland.

They also keep saying that they will have something a week from tomorrow. Which is the 15th. But hopefully let's just help, it will come down at the last second.