Do you support the NFL Players' Union in the event of a work stoppage next season?

I mean this as a union question and not a sports question, so posting it in GD.

Long story really short, it is entirely possible the owners will lock out the players before the start of next season due to disagreement with the CBA. Owners decided to exercise the opt-out clause in the current CBA (has two years left), due to what they feel is excessive compensation for the players. Now they are asking players to absorb more of the routine and not so routine expenses (Like building stadiums) and possibly lower the revenue sharing percentage that go to players.

Some quick facts:

- Owners will still be paid all television fees next season whether there is football or not

- Players are in the midst of authorizing decertifying the union in the event of the lockout (Union cannot sue during collective bargaining. If they choose to decertify, it will allow individual players to sue.)

- College draft will take place whether there is a CBA or not


My own thoughts: I support the union, but, frankly, I don't think the public is going to be too thrilled with owners or players if it means a season without football. I don't see either side gaining any public goodwill in this matter.

Once again, the owners will have to be taught who really matters in this equation.

fails to understand that a lockout is not the same thing as a strike, and will end up blaming the players.

Because of the NFL's anti-trust exemption and monopoly of the talent pool, there is literally no choice. So, while the fans may blame the players, they will continue to shell out hundreds of dollars to watch the games, which will come back or continue as normal.

The compensation is the least of the problems. The league must address care for former NFL players affected by injuries and concussions sustained while playing.

Recent research has made everyone in the NFL uninsurable, by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm not nuts about a season without football, but owners have been cleaning up for a long time now. They take NO risk for their profits.

The public is never thrilled with a work stoppage, no matter what workers are involved.

millionaires versus billionaires....who cares? I just want some football. We don't get it next year, both sides will suffer in the eyes of the public.

of course, I'd not notice if the stopped playing and never started again, but the player's have need of collective bargaining, and I will fully support them, and be on hand to explain why rich players need a Union for those that think otherwise....

It's tough for the public to sympathize with athletes making at the very least, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Especially in a recession.

how many people are willing to pay for the new facilty that they work in? not me!

Even though it is millionaires vs billionaires with USC players taking a pay cut.

the players are paid by their ability and the owners who can or can not judge their worth. if the fans do`t want to pay the ticket prices then that`s their choice. it does`t greatly effect the owners bottom line because of the tv revenues.

the fans of a team are not going to watch a team with even worse players than the striking players ...that only happens in the movies.

Owners feel that the way the current CBA worked out that the amount of revenue generated, before paying down costs, going to players (60% of the revenue) provides too little comfort in terms of bottom line profits after having to use a chunk of the other 40% to pay expenses. Players agreeing to less revenue sharing would lead to a tightening of average salaries.

And the owners aren't exactly rummaging through the couch cushions for beer money. They wouldn't pay the players a dime more than they absolutely had to if they had their way. Pension benefits and medical care would be left up to the tender mercies of a brutal marketplace. Players usually trim anywhere from 10 to 20 years off their life expectancy to play professional football. Granted, nobody's holding a gun to their head to do so, but for the billions of dollars they're generating by their efforts for the football industry, they deserve their portion of the pie. This concept is so simple, but so baffling in a society where we don't value Labor, only the wealth it generates.

First, because I support unions, but also because I'm sick of Fox interrupting Simpsons and Family Guy on Sunday night to show a bunch of guys play for 30 seconds at a time interrupted by five minute intervals of everyone standing around scratching their balls.