Archive for January, 2011
Joint NFL – NFLPA Statement on CBA
“DeMaurice Smith & Roger Goodell met today in NY to discuss a range of issues related to a new CBA. As part of a process to intensify negotiations, they agreed to hold a formal bargaining session with both negotiating teams Saturday in Dallas. They also agreed to a series of meetings over the next few weeks, both formal bargaining sessions & smaller group meetings in an effort to reach a new agreement by early March.”
New in Ad Age – NFLPA: CBS Rejected Let Us Play Ad
In a breaking story this morning on Ad Age that can be found here, the NFLPA says it’s “Let Us Play” ad that was launched last week and scheduled to run on CBS College Sports Network the day before the Super Bowl has been rejected.
An excerpt from the article:
George Atallah, assistant executive director of external affairs for the Washington, D.C.-based NFL Players Association, said the union received word Friday that the network will not run the ad, which was scheduled to air during the NFLPA All-Star Game.
“I tried to have my team contact CBS to try to understand exactly what happened, but apparently they said they didn’t want to get involved with the labor negotiations,” Mr. Atallah said.
You can read the entire article here and view the Ad below:
N.Y. Post: Fans Don’t Sympathize With Owners
In “No sympathy for NFL owners in labor fight,” an article published today on the New York Post’s website, Mike Vaccaro opines that many fans have taken a side in the labor battle. He says that fans are already behind the players and gives reasons as to why fans should be supporting the players.
Both sides know that many parties lose out if an owner-imposed lockout is enforced. However, the players expect a lockout—because the owners have shown they are preparing for one.
On NFL players being world-class performers, Vaccaro writes, “ … Fans acknowledge that pro football players represent an extraordinary, elite place among even other pro athletes: They do what they do amid constant danger.”
On the prospect of an 18-game season, Vaccaro writes, “It is a naked money grab that only the owners possibly could endorse.”
Players don’t have guaranteed contracts in the NFL, but they do have extremely high risks of injuries. Thus, they are rightly concerned about the toll on their bodies if the NFL moves to an 18-game season. If fans are looking to play the blame game, look no further than “the men turning the keys in the locks.”
Read the New York Post article here.
NFLPA’s Atallah Talks Labor Issues on PFT Live
On Wednesday, NFLPA Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs George Atallah was interviewed by Mike Florio on PFT Live and spoke on a number of labor issues.
Leading with an audio clip of NFL chief outside labor lawyer Bob Batterman stating that on March 4 when the current CBA has expired he expects a lockout or declaration of impasse, Florio asked Atallah what he thinks will happen on March 4.
Atallah responded, “Well you notice the only thing he (Batterman) didn’t say is that a new deal will be reached. So that’s the thing that gives me the most concern. Of all the things we’ve heard from their side … there’s nothing economical, there’s nothing ethical and there’s nothing moral that justifies them threatening a lockout.”
Throughout the interview, Atallah cited several reasons why the NFL should take a lockout off the table, including pointing to the immense success of the league and the disastrous impact a lockout will have on everyone involved with the game.
Atallah was also asked by Florio about the recent news that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL’s lead in-house negotiator, Jeff Pash, will reduce their salary to $1 per year in the event of a lockout. Atallah, who questioned how exactly a public relations ploy like this will help avoid a lockout, responded to Florio by asking if they’ll also be cutting off their health insurance, as the 32 clubs will be doing to their players.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA responded to the salary scenario on Twitter: “NFL executives reducing salaries in the event of a lockout? If we have a deal by Super Bowl, I’ll go down to 68 cents.”
To listen to the complete Atallah interview, click here.
NFLPA Super Bowl Ad: Let Us Play
Players: “Let Us Play” Fans: “Let Them Play” Here we are, Super Bowl, the biggest event in sports, and an NFL Lockout looms very large. As the NFL celebrates its most successful season ever, NFL owners are preparing to lock out players and fans from their game starting in March. Owners have not opened their books or offered justification for this threat. The players want to play and the fans want to see them play. So, why won’t the Owners take a Lockout off the table? Do your part as a fan and help Block the Lockout.
Sign the Block the Lockout Petition on the right hand side of this site and for more information click on our “What is this Lockout About?” and “What is this Lockout NOT About?” tabs.
Super Bowl Ad details: Produced by NFLPA (with Third Story Films & New Media Strategies) using a limited budget due to the threat of a lockout. The distribution plan leverages new/social media channels with minimal costs.
Happy Birthday, NFLLabor.com!
Recently, the NFL has been saying that it is interested in negotiating, but that the players association is only interested in litigating or negotiating via press conference. Yet today, Monday, Jan. 24, 2011, is the one-year anniversary of the launch of NFLLabor.com. The site calls itself: “Your source for NFL labor information.”
NFLLabor.com has had a busy first year. In one year since its birth, NFLLabor.com has published 479 posts. The site’s goals are two-fold: to cast the NFL owners in the best possible light in the negotiations, and to attempt to weaken the players association’s credibility by selectively only posting things favorable to the league’s side.
Recently, the NFL has been using a slick talking point. It says that the players association isn’t serious about reaching a new CBA—that its side wants to negotiate, but that the players just want to talk in the press.
Ironically, the NFL has been making this argument in the media, and re-posting it on their website, NFLLabor.com. Hypocrisy at its finest? In its 466th post (on Jan. 13, 2011): “NFL heading to Congress again,” NFLLabor.com cites an interview that the owners’ lead negotiator, Jeff Pash, did with Politico, quoting Pash as saying: “There’s never been a Collective Bargaining Agreement that I know of that was accomplished at a press conference or a congressional hearing or at a pep rally or anything like that. If we can have a shared commitment to make collective bargaining work, we can solve our own problems, and we will continue to bring fans the tremendous entertainment that they have enjoyed and players very substantial, and growing, rewards.”
While it is true that the players association has its own source on the web for labor news, NFLLockout.com, this site wasn’t officially launched until October 20, 2010, and exists to provide the players’ perspective—hoping to balance out the distortions posted on NFLLabor.com. At the time NFLLockout.com was launched, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com wrote: “In concept, the website is overdue. For most of the year, the NFL has been communicating its message (or, as some see it, spreading their propaganda) via NFLLabor.com. It’s only fair that the union is doing the same thing.”
Congratulations to the NFL for being above public bickering in the labor negotiations. And Happy Birthday, NFLLabor.com!