NFL 2011 Lockout?

It increasingly appears likely that the 2011 NFL season will be consigned to the history books as a non-event much like the 2004-2005 NHL season, part of the 1998-1999 NBA season, and the 1994-95 MLB season before that.

The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL players and the NFL owners ran out on 11 March 2011. There is no new collective bargaining agreement on the horizon and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) has since filed a lawsuit against the NFL owners.

On a very basic level, the main disputes are:
1. Games per season - currently there are 16 games per team per year (plus 4 pre-season games) but the NFL owners are proposing to extend the season to 18 games and reduce the number of pre-season games. The reason.....? Money. Pre-season tickets are usually the same price as regular season tickets but in contrast to the regular season games, the pre-season games are rarely sold out. The players, however, are not so keen on this idea as they are already burning out earlier on in their careers due to injuries. Hence the sticking point

2. Rookie wages - there are disputes about rookies signing astronomical contracts without them being tried and tested professionals.  It appears that both the NFL owners and the NFLPA agree on this but until the collective bargaining agreement is signed this may yet turn out to be a false dawn.

3. TV revenue - a number of the NFL owners are arguing that the players are receiving too much of the TV revenue. This appears to be a strange argument as from all reports the players are asking for the same cut that they received under the old collective agreement, which the owners signed off on. Seems the owners have had a change of heart!?

As yet there is no discussion or preparation for pre-season training camps let alone talk of a new collective bargaining agreement. Could be a long year for the pigskin faithful......