The new NFL labor agreement has proven to be quite a chore. What seems like it should be a somewhat simple arrangement to keep the NFL going strong has become an uncertainty that could affect the future of the NFL, or at least its present scheduling. Labor agreements are never easy but with the lucrative enterprise that the NFL has become over the years you would think that there would be more than enough to go around. Unfortunately there are many hot-button issues for the new NFL labor agreement. Here are the top 5.
How To Split The $9 Billion In Annual Revenues
This is the big issue. The NFL is bringing in a lot of money and where it should go depends on who you ask. Again, with this much money you would think there would be enough for everyone but, as in most situations like this, everyone seems to be afraid of not getting their fair share. Both sides have good points and don’t want to make too many concessions.
Money For Stadium Construction And Improvement
This issue falls under the banner of the previous one but is a specific hot-button issue all its own. Team owners want money for stadium construction and improvement and this does not seem like an outrageous demand. The question comes in when you start asking exactly how much money they should get for these activities.
In the previous deal, team owners already got over $1 billion for these purposes. They hope to secure twice that with the new labor agreement. Of course, this is a lot of money and many are asking if this much money is really necessary. At the same time, the money is deserved and this is a valid point but the money is deserved by many involved in this franchise for many different reasons.
Rookie Wage Scale
The rookie wage scale is another complicated issue with good points on both sides. This is just one more time when both sides will have to reach some sort of consensus. The specifics are complicated but the underlying issue is, once again, an extension of the first issue of deciding how to divvy up the mountains of money that come pouring into the NFL each year.
Expanding Regular Season And Reducing Preseason
The team owners also want to make some adjustments to the regular season and the preseason. Basically, they want to increase the number of games in the regular season from 16 to 18 while decreasing the number of games in the preseason by two games. It sounds like an issue that isn’t even worth mentioning but somehow it is a hot-button issue.
Benefits For Retired Players
Benefits for retired players are one more issue that allows both sides to keep fighting over the same things. It all comes down to the money once more. You would think that with as much money as the NFL has that everyone could be happy benefitting from it but instead they seem to all be worried that they might not be benefitting enough.
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