Roger & You: Chatting with the Commish

Earlier today Roger Goodell waded through some of the 6,000 questions that were submitted for his pre-season chat on NFL.com.  Among the surprises, it turns out that the commissioner “can’t wait” for the beginning of the season and thinks that “its important to recognize the tradition and history of our game.”  But he take on a number of good questions concerning the CBA.  Here are the relevant answers:

Extended Schedule. When will there be less pre season games & more regular season games?

Goodell:  [A]s you may know, we have discussed restructuring our 20-game season from its current format of 4 preseason games and 16 regular-season games to possibly 18 regular-season and 2 preseason games. I’ve heard consistently from NFL fans that they don’t believe the preseason games are up to NFL standards. I agree. We are discussing changing this with our partners, including the players.

State of the CBA Negotiations. Hello,Commissioner Goodell! What can you tell me about the current labor situation and when will the players and owners meet again for negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement? Like many other big NFL fans,I hope there’s football in 2011 and beyond.Thank you very much!

Goodell: [W]e just started a formal negotiation with the NFLPA this past summer. We have a lot of work to do, but we recognize we need to get the CBA negotiated in a way that will allow our game to continue to grow.  We don’t want to stop football from being played and are hopeful that negotiations will result in bringing you more football.

Rookie Salary Cap. Commissioner, how important do you think it is to implement a rookie wage scale?

Goodell: I have been on record as saying the rookie wage scale is good for veteran players and the game. Money should go to the players who have proven their success on the NFL field. I expect this will be one of the issues that will be addressed in the CBA.

Commish’s Goals. As Commissioner, what are your top 3 business objectives for the NFL master franchise over the course of the next 5-10 years?

Goodell: Our focus will be continuing to have 32 strong teams with a new CBA that works for both players and owners and continues to grow the game. Additionally, we hope to find new and innovative ways to bring more football to our fans, including on new technology like we’re doing with the RedZone this season.

Suspensions. How do you go about deciding the length of a players suspension? What is the process that u go through[?]

Goodell: [T]his is an important part of my job, but fortunately a small part of it. The first step is to make sure you understand all the facts and provide each individual player with due process, including a full hearing. You want everyone in the NFL to understand the standards and privilege of being part of the NFL. If we engage in mistakes that reflect poorly on the NFL shield, there must be consequences consistently applied. We see positive signs that this is having an impact in reduced incidents.

End of the Salary Cap: Commissioner, could you explain what would happen in an uncapped year? Thanks.

Goodell: [T]here are a number of rules in place if we move into an uncapped year for the 2010 season. For example, eligibility for free agency would go from four years to six years, there are restrictions on the final eight playoff teams signing free agents, and each team gets an additional transitional tag along with a franchise tag. The rules during an uncapped year are designed to keep our competitive balance. The clubs are prepared for this outcome and I don’t think it will affect the quality of the game on the field.

Advice for the Commish?: There is no handbook to follow on how to be a comissioner, so what person/persons and/or things help guide you in your daily decisions?

Goodell: [Y]ou’re right — there is no handbook. You are faced with a variety of issues and challenges. My best advice is that you get all the facts by talking to a wide range of people. You can never think you have all the answers and normally your decisions will result in a number of people who disgree with you. You just try to do what you think is right for the game regardless of the consequences.

Development of Future NFL Players: With the closure of NFL Europe and the collapse of the Arena League, it seems like there is a large void in the development of players that don’t fill the immediate need of the current 53 man roster. Is the NFL looking into expanding the practice squads or developing a development league like the NBA?

Goodell: As part of our discussions on a restructured season, we have discussed offseason training, the possibility of a developmental league and additional roster positions, including practice squad. The development of players, coaches and officials will be important as we continue to grow the league.

———

It was a good chat.  Kudos to the commish for taking the time to answer the questions.  Hopefully the NFLPA will go on the record in a similar sort of chat.

Filed under: extended schedule, personal conduct policy, restricted free agency, Roger Goodell, rookie salary cap, salary cap, chats

Goodell’s National Media Meeting

The league office convened several national NFL reporters yesterday to discuss the state of the CBA negotiations, as well as issues as varied as Vick’s suspension and the Cowboy’s goofy video boards.  The big news was the commissioner’s statements that there will likely be no CBA in place before the salary cap disappears in 2010.  The Associated Press breaks it down:

”I told De, ‘Let’s start negotiating,”’ Goodell said, ”and that’s our intent.”

But there is no timetable for beginning significant talks, and the union says the onus is on the owners to present an offer.

According to league figures, the players have received about 75 percent of revenues since 2006, while the other 25 percent has gone to costs, plus another 6 percent over that which owners have absorbed because of rising costs.

The union disputes those numbers.

”The CBA explicitly restricts player costs to just under 60 percent,” NFLPA spokesman George Atallah told The Associated Press. ”That is fixed. They’d have to provide relevant information to support that wild claim, because we certainly don’t have it.”

So, the questions coming out of this:

1. Was it the owners’ intent to get rid of the salary cap figure in the first place?  They have made no proposal for a new agreement since opting out.  This seems to me to be a media offensive to shift the blame, a poor offensive though the “national media” at the event ate it up.
2. What does the union have in terms of numbers?  Has the league acknowledged the Forbes numbers?  The 75% number was put forward by NFL general counsel Jeff Pash — is there supporting documentation?
3. This negotiation is clearly going to take place in the media.  I think it is the responsibility of the media to ascertain whether these numbers are right.   It is not enough for any of them to swallow either the NFL’s or the NFLPA’s claims outright.  If there aren’t public facts to back it up, demand it.  Did any of the “national media” ask for background facts besides Goodell’s word?  We’ll do our best to get what we can.

George Atallah, the NFLPA’s external affairs guy, shares that the union will respond:

Mr. Goodell and Mr. Pash hosted a group of reporters. Interesting to see what they shared. We will respond.

Filed under: DeMaurice Smith, NFL revenue, salary cap, George Atallah, Jeff Pash

NFL Pay Structure Under the Current CBA

About two years ago, SportsBusinessRadio laid out the general salary and salary cap rules by which the NFL is currently governed.  A good quick, concise presentation.

Filed under: rookie salary cap, salary cap, SportsBusinessRadio

Pash: 75% of New Revenue Goes to Players

The National Post (Canada) reports on the CBA, quoting Jeff Pash, NFL general counsel, and Roger Goodell:

The owners claim revenues are not growing fast enough to keep up with the payments they make to the players. Jeff Pash, the league’s chief counsel, says 75 percent of new revenues have gone to the players since a new CBA was reached in 2006, and the owners opted out of that agreement last year.

Meanwhile, the players say the system isn’t broken because the 32 teams aren’t losing money – 19 of them are worth at least US$1-billion, according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey, and the estimated annual revenues approach $8-billion.

“When the issue is dollars, economics, and one side is saying economics are not good, it’s up to them to give evidence that those economics have changed and there is reason for concern,” says NFLPA general counsel Richard Berthelsen. “But that has not happened.”

Berthelesen also addresses the point that Florio made in our last post: what will happen to the players in an uncapped system?

“If a team wants to win, there would be no limit on spending dollars to bring in players to get to the Super Bowl, and we all think we know who those teams are,” Berthelsen says. “If an owner is not interested in competing, he can go on the cheap. But I think that would be the exception rather than the rule.

“If past is prologue, the players’ piece of the pie would get larger, which is what happened in 1993.”

Filed under: NFL revenue, NFLPA, salary cap, Jeff Pash, Richard Berthelsen

What an Uncapped Year Might Mean for the Players

After that last post, I was looking around the Sporting News site and found a June 2009 article from Mike Florio’s column proferring that an uncapped year may very well be a big negative for a majority of players in the league. The gist is that with no minimum salary (which will disappear when the cap disappears), teams are likely to stock their teams with cheap players rather than negotiate up bigger contracts for veterans.  And on the opposite end, Florio doesn’t think that the superstars will necessarily get much more than they are getting now.

It’s an opinion piece, but worth a look.

Filed under: salary cap, Mike Florio

The Huddle: NFLPA House Organ

The NFLPA has released the latest edition of its in-house magazine, The Huddle, a publication seemingly directed at the players and retired player.  There’s a good piece in there about DeMaurice Smith, the new executive director, as well as a rundown of the benefits that the players will lose if there is an uncapped year in 2010.

Filed under: NFLPA, player benefits, salary cap, DeMaurice Smith, The Huddle

That Wednesday Owners Meetings

The owners got together yesterday to discuss a bunch of issues:

• whether Gloria Estefan and Marc Anthony could be minority owners of the Miami Dolphins (approved!);
• whether the NFL network should show some dumb channel it wants to broadcast (approved!);
• whether they should keep the same company for the NFL’s helmets (approved!);
• whether NBC’s TV contract should be extended through 2013 so the NFL has the most leverage possible when ALL their TV contracts come up for renewall (approved!…no kidding);
• whether it should stick its nose in its players’ use of a scary new technology called TWITTER! (to be determined, but probably!).

Ok, besides turning the beat around, the owners discussed the CBA negotiations and what will happen if a new agreement is not reached before the 2010 season (which it is looking increasingly like it won’t).  ProFootballWeekly was in the O’Hare Westin yesterday and reported on the public goings-ons.  Not too much new came out of the meeting on the CBA, but PFW did get some good quotes:

Goodell on the NFLPA’s demand for the league to open its books:

“There has been a significant amount of information that has been shared [with the union],” Goodell said. “They have audit rights. They have a significant amount of information, and if they feel they need more information, we’d be happy to sit with them at negotiations and discuss that.”

My favorite team owner, Robert Kraft:

“It’s pretty important that we find ways to grow revenue and have a good working relationship with our partners in the [players'] union and do it with a system that can last long term,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said.

Pretty standard, noncombatitive stuff. Love that guy.

Colt’s owner, Jim Isray had more to say, but thinks that there’s hope. Then again, he admits to being “an optimist:”

“I just think it’s too early to tell [if there will be a lockout],” Irsay said. “I am usually an optimist, and I think it’s something where, for all of us, for the game, it’s about trying to go forward and finding solutions to all of the problems that we have. That’s what the hope is. I think it’s a little early to gauge anything more than that right now. The goal and the hope is to continue to grow the game.”

According to the article, there have been no new meetings with the NFLPA planned, but some dates are being exchanged. Check out the article.  Good access.

I know you cant control yourself any longer…

Filed under: NFL revenue, Roger Goodell, salary cap, Gloria Estefan, Jim Isray, Marc Anthony, NBC, NFL Network, Robert Kraft, twitter

Wednesday’s Team Owners’ Meeting

The owners are sitting down for a business meeting tomorrow and ProFootballTalk got the scoop that the agenda includes a refresher on the rule changes that will accompany an uncapped year in 2010:

The uncapped year had been sold for years as a boon for the players.  In reality, it could be a bust.  With no salary cap there also will be no salary floor, allowing cash-conscious teams to paste together a roster limited only by the minimum salaries applicable to the various levels of experience.

Also, players will need six years of service to become unrestricted free agents, and teams will be able to use one franchise tag and one transition tag or two transition tags to limit the options of unrestricted free agents.

Perhaps most importantly, the rules limit the ability of teams finishing in the final eight to sign players from other teams.

Florio’s got more through the link.

Filed under: franchise tag, salary cap, Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk

2011: A Sports Odyssey

As you may know, the NFL isn’t the only league with labor issues on the horizon; NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL all have labor contracts expiring in 2011.  Whoa, right?  The Sports Business Journal calls it “the equivalent of a full solar eclipse on the sports labor calendar.”

Head on over to the SBJ to read the whole thing, because it really breaks down the issues for each league and the awkward positioning of the leagues who instituted a salary cap, but now find it to be not of their liking.

Some quotes from the NFL folks:

And in the NFL, the salary cap system that began in 1993 is not working for owners anymore, said [Jeff] Pash [the NFL chief legal officer], who is leading negotiations for the owners. “It may have been perfectly sound in 1993 when it was entered into, but it has not evolved in a way that reflects the operations of the National Football League in 2009,” Pash said. Among other things, Pash said that system does not take into account owners increased costs, including more privately financed stadiums and debt service.

Another MAJOR issue?  Proskauer Rose, the New York law firm, has a seat at each one of the tables.  How about that? Not bad for the PPP (profits per partner) in this downturn.  It does suggest some questions, though.  Are the leagues working in cahoots?  Is there some sort of informal information sharing going on?  How tall are those chinese walls? How does one CBA agreement effect the others? The Sports Business Journal article mentions that there is typically not “pattern bargaining” like there might be in auto labor deal.

If the leagues can’t collude, can the unions?

[NBAPA Executive Director Billy] Hunter said the expiration of all four deals in the same year was something he discussed at length with Gene Upshaw, his good friend and the former NFLPA executive director, before Upshaw died unexpectedly last year.

“If it resulted in any one group being locked out, I think he sort of saw himself at the front because the NFLPA agreement is the first to expire.” Hunter said. He has not yet addressed this issue with Upshaw’s successor, Smith.

Upshaw, Hunter said, “thought it provided an opportunity that I guess we could all … unify if we all kind of took a universal position about the concerns of our players.”

Four League Strike or Lockout?  Can you imagine how dark our 2011 would be?

I have a lot to learn about this and about the NLRB rules. But needless to say, this will be a focus of the blog.

Update: Also, not sure this is particularly productive, but want to see if I can start a twitter meme: #savesports2011

Filed under: antitrust, labor law, NFLPA, salary cap, Billy Hunter, Gene Upshaw, Jeff Pash, MLB, NBA, NBAPA, NHL, Proskauer Rose, Sports Business Journal

Smart Take on Rookie Pay Scale

AOL NFL Fanhouse’s Dan Graziano has a smart article about how, despite some irregularities in NFL salaries (Matthew Stafford makes more than Tom Brady), there is no need for a rookie salary cap:

But the facts are that it’s too easy, too simplistic and, given the current structure, totally unnecessary.

See, there already is a rookie salary cap. As the system is currently structured, each team each year is assigned a certain amount, within its salary-cap figure, that it’s allotted to spend on rookies. League-wide, this figure amounts to a little less than four percent of the total amount teams are allowed to spend on player salaries under the salary cap rules. This figure is determined based on how many picks each team has and where they’re located within the draft. The current system limits the amount of money teams can spend to sign their draft picks. All it fails to do is assign specific values to specific picks.

He also has some good comments from George Atallah, the NFLPA’s assistant execdir of external affairs:

“What the rookie wage scale does is take the onus off the owners, who are the LHRC — the lower right-hand corner of the check,” union spokesman George Atallah told FanHouse in a recent phone interview. “They sign the check. It’s not the union’s fault that teams draft poorly and they don’t pan out. Until we own a team, we’re not not going to regulate how much rookies make. We just won’t.”

Read the whole thing, he discusses a NFLPA-commissioned study about whether any NFL has even depleted its veteran allotment in the last few years (it hasn’t).  Good stuff. And even better stuff to show to former players like Jamal Anderson who tweeted: “System is ridiculous. Been due 4 overhaul. B like NBA, basic deals until you EARN it!”

Filed under: NFLPA, rookie salary cap, salary cap, Dan Graziano, George Atallah, Jamal Anderson, Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady