OT following the NFL/NFLPA work stoppage; UPD agreement reached

Tinalera

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Feb 3, 2007
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With the amount of money the NFL makes per year? I think this is scare mongering-the impression I get is that NFL fans are VERY devoted to the sport, and I certainly see no numbers that suggested interest was spiraling before this labour strife.

I read that article and laughed- the NHL would LOVE to have the "loss of interest" the NFL has IMO (basically meaning the high numbers of fans they have to begin with)
 

Tinalera

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Feb 3, 2007
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I beat LadyStanley to the punch ;)


Players and Owners plead case in front of 3 Judge Panel:


http://tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=367738

Quote of the proceedings(IMO):

he panel has twice decided to keep the lockout in place pending the full appeal. It did not issue an immediate decision and Judge Kermit Bye smiled as he told the lawyers before they left the courtroom: "We wouldn't be all that hurt if you go out and settle that case."
 
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kdb209

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Jan 26, 2005
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More links:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...ners-NFLPA-held-secret-negotiating-session-in

Owners, NFLPA hold secret negotiating sessions in Chicago

By Doug Farrar

It turns out that the little day trip taken by NFL owners Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft and Jerry Richardson on Wednesday, which was first revealed by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, was a bit more important than it first appeared. ESPN's Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported on Thursday morning that not only were those three owners and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell there, but that NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith and various union officials were in attendance for what is now referred to as a secret negotiating session.

It's also been reported that Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney and John Mara were in attendance, along with player reps Kevin Mawae(notes), Mike Vrabel(notes) and Jeff Saturday(notes). To add to the intrigue, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports that mediator Arthur Boylan was a part of the session, and that the talks started Tuesday night and continued through midday Thursday.

After Thursday talks broke off, the two sides issued a joint statement: "The parties met pursuant to court mediation. Owners and players were engaged in confidential discussions before Chief Magistrate Judge Boylan. The court has ordered continued confidentiality of the mediation sessions."

According to Schefter, the meeting was such a secret, some owners weren't even aware of it until after the fact.

The reasons to negotiate are clear. With the next round of hearings in the Brady v. NFL antitrust lawsuit starting on Friday before the Eighth Circuit Court in St. Louis, both sides stand to lose a lot. If the owners win the next round, as they won the continuation of their lockout in the last hearing before that same court, the players and NFLPA lose everything but time as their leverage. If the players win, the court could rule that the lockout be lifted, and the doomsday/chaos scenario the owners keep touting -- a new landscape in which players are signed without a CBA or any sort of unilateral rules in place -- could be a reality.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/s...ayers-to-continue-efforts-to-end-dispute.html

Judge Urges N.F.L. and Players to Continue Efforts to End Dispute
By JUDY BATTISTA
Published: June 3, 2011

ST. LOUIS — With the start of the 2011 regular season less than 100 days away, and recent negotiations providing hope for a settlement, the N.F.L. and its players faced off in a federal appeals court Friday to determine how much longer the lockout can last.

Both sides relied on familiar points in the pivotal hearing before the three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether an injunction that would end the lockout is legal. With the lockout nearly three months long, Judge Kermit Bye, who was the lone dissenter in decisions to issue temporary and full delays of the injunction and who spoke little during the oral arguments, urged the parties to continue their efforts to end their dispute.

“We will take this case and render a decision in due course,†Bye said. “We won’t, I might also say, be all that hurt that you’re leaving us out if you should go out and settle the case. But that’s up to you. But we will keep with our business, and if that ends up with a decision, that’s probably something both sides are not going to like but at least it will be a decision.â€

...

Talks are expected to resume next week, and it is possible the appeals court could wait to issue its decision to give the parties time to reach a settlement. A decision from the appeals court would most likely come later this month or in July.

...

The N.F.L. emphasized, as it did at the district court level and when it sought the stay of the injunction, its belief that the Norris-La Guardia Act bars a federal district court from issuing an injunction to stop a lockout. Paul Clement, who represented the league, also said the non-statutory labor exemption should apply for a least a year after a union dissolves itself — meaning the lockout would not be subject to antitrust law for at least a year — and he called antitrust charges made by players “extraneous.†He continued the N.F.L.’s argument that the union’s decertification was done only as a tactic, and was a sham, an argument that Ted Olson, the players’ lawyer, said verged on being “unconscionable.â€

Uhhm - interesting. The NFLPA has brought in some heavy legal firepower, especially if they expect this to go all the way to the SCOTUS - former Bush Solicitor General (and anti Prop 8 litigator) Theodore Olson.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...uit-vs-nfl-could-end-up-in-us-supreme-court/1

Players' lawyer: Suit vs. NFL could end up in U.S. Supreme Court

By Sean Leahy, USA TODAY
Updated 8h 50m ago

A general sense of optimism came around NFL circles on Thursday as the league and players engaged in what a court mediator said was "settlement" talks aimed at ending the nearly three-month-old lockout.

But, with the sides entering a hearing at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis on Friday, the path back to football is far from certain.

And, as one prominent players attorney sees it, the path may lead directly through the U.S. Supreme Court.

That's what former U.S. solicitor general Ted Olson -- who represents the players -- told Fox Sports.

"There are significant legal questions here that, if decided one way or the other, one side may not be satisfied," Olson said.

"The (Supreme) Court has frequently considered decisions involving professional sports. It would not at all be unheard of in a case like this that it would go to the Supreme Court."

...

Paul Clement, another former U.S. solicitor general who represents the league, didn't want to talk much about the potential for landing in the Supreme Court.

"I'm in the process of focusing on the 8th Circuit (Court). I'm not too worried about what will happen after that," he told Fox Sports. "When you're talking about the Supreme Court, you don't have any guarantees they will look at the case at all. In fact, the odds are stacked against you. They hear only about one of every 100 (appealed) cases.

"I'm not saying this isn't a big case. But I do think both sides have to go into this argument knowing that they are not likely to have an appeal (granted) to a higher court at this stage."

Ohhh - dueling Solictors General.
 

Tinalera

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Feb 3, 2007
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More links:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...ners-NFLPA-held-secret-negotiating-session-in



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/s...ayers-to-continue-efforts-to-end-dispute.html



Uhhm - interesting. The NFLPA has brought in some heavy legal firepower, especially if they expect this to go all the way to the SCOTUS - former Bush Solicitor General (and anti Prop 8 litigator) Theodore Olson.

http://content.usatoday.com/communi...uit-vs-nfl-could-end-up-in-us-supreme-court/1



Ohhh - dueling Solictors General.

I admit, I'm intrigued-both sides seem to be getting ready to really dig in here. Particularly if this starts affecting Training Camps in July...
 

LadyStanley

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Sep 22, 2004
105,742
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Sin City
http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=367868

Retired/former players have been added to the lawsuit against the lockout.

NFL players asked a federal appeals court earlier Friday in St. Louis to declare the lockout illegal almost three months after it started. A lawsuit filed by current players against the league has been amended to included complaints from retirees led by Hall of Famer Carl Eller.
...
"You can't let egos get in the way of negotiation," [Hall of Fame player and former Chicago coach Mike] Ditka said. "You have to give to take.

"You can't figure out a way to US$9 million? It's kind of goofy. The American public can't feel sorry for either side because they can't relate."

Retired players are pushing for better pension and health benefits from the league and players in the next collective bargaining agreement.

"If they want to fix the pension for former players, all they have to do is match what baseball does for their former players, they have the best pension in all of sports," Ditka said. "I'm fighting for the disability and the medical help that we need. One thing the current players should be fighting is for medical care for after their careers. Not for five years, but for 20, 30, 40 years. We're finding guys who are 50, 60, 70, they're suffering from head injuries and everything else."

Concussion raises it's ugly head in this as well. :(
 

thinkwild

Veni Vidi Toga
Jul 29, 2003
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Ottawa
It is perhaps noteworthy that the nflpa seems focused more on player health and safety concerns than we've come to expect lately. Back to more traditional bargaining perhaps, although long term health care cant be cheap either, like those pesky war vets wanting care.

It feels sometimes like there is a hidden agenda that both sides lawyers are actually hoping to get a Supreme Court case to finally win something. U wonder what those big issues that they talk about are.

Looking at the Coles notes for the Norris Laguardia act, as a layman, i can see why lawyers get big bucks if they are suggesting that law would apply to owners, and could deny players the right to decertify, it sure doesnt jump out at you how that could apply.

The NFL owners dont even appear interested in justifying their position, they have no intention of proving it or saying why, they just want more money and are going to lock the players out until they give. And some law meant to protect striking workers from being ganged up on by the courts is somehow used to justify the lockout? Those must be some good lawyers.
 

chihawkswi

Registered User
Jun 1, 2011
169
0
Milwaukee, WI

I am a huge NFL fan. Football is my favorite sport, but even I'm getting turned away by all this. My current attitude is, "If you want a lockout, fine, I don't care anymore, but you risk losing fans over your greediness."

I'll just turn to college football. My team is coming off an exciting Rose Bowl run last season. I will just see what they can do this year. There's also alternative leagues like the CFL and UFL I'll watch. I already do watch the CFL during the summer months. Might as well watch into the fall too!

I'm also looking at the positive. If the NFL (and the NBA) have lockouts it will do good for the NHL being the only major league playing games once the World Series ends in October/November. It will be nice to see this great game gain more exposure from fans looking for sports entertainment.
 

LadyStanley

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Sep 22, 2004
105,742
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Sin City
http://www.tsn.ca/nfl/story/?id=368090

AP: Owners move to get players anti-trust suit dismissed.

As the labour battle between NFL owners and players moved from the bargaining table to the courtroom, judges at each stop have urged both sides to reach an agreement before they have to issue significant rulings.

The latest nudge in that direction came on Monday from U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson, who scheduled a hearing on the owners' motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit from a group of players for Sept. 12.

Coincidentally or not, Sept. 12 is four days after the regular season is set to open in Green Bay, and one day after the first Sunday of games for the 2011 season.
 

Melrose Munch

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Mar 18, 2007
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Small market are starting to be a nuisance to pro sports. Smaller cities will need to adjust or leave as the NFL globalizes.
 

kdb209

Registered User
Jan 26, 2005
14,870
6
NFL definitely looking better than the NBA, including a warming relationship between Goodell & NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith - with Smith inviting Goodell to address an NHLPA rookie meeting with him.

Settlement possible within weeks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/sports/football/nfl-labor-deal-is-likely-to-be-weeks-away.html

N.F.L. Deal Is Said to Be Weeks Away
By JUDY BATTISTA
Published: June 30, 2011

...

The N.F.L. had hoped to have at least an agreement in principle in place around the Fourth of July, but three people who have been briefed on the negotiations said that although a resolution remained possible within the next 10 days, it was more likely that negotiations would drag on past that time, with a better chance for a settlement coming the week of July 10.

One person said that little progress on the critical issues that divide the sides had been made earlier this week, when lawyers and staff members negotiated without owners and players in attendance, and another said he still believed it was possible that games would be missed and that it would require a breakthrough for a deal to be completed in the next couple of weeks.

...

Recent joint appearances by Commissioner Roger Goodell and the chief of the decertified players union, DeMaurice Smith — including one Wednesday in which both men spoke to rookie players in Florida — fueled speculation that a deal was imminent. Despite the apparent thaw in the personal relationship between the two men, the sides continue to spar over such fundamental issues as the formation of a rookie wage system and how to divide revenue.

One person who has been briefed on the status of talks said that the sides were close enough to complete a deal within 72 hours with intense effort. But dynamics among the parties, the person said, could stall a deal. The league is concerned that some lawyers and agents on the players’ side will prefer to wait, perhaps for a court decision that could sway negotiating leverage, before reaching an agreement.

And players are concerned that owners want to change the terms on issues that they believed had already been agreed upon, including the revenue split that had appeared to be nearly settled last week, with players receiving slightly less than 50 percent.

A long delay in completing a deal could affect the start of the preseason. The N.F.L. had hoped to conduct a condensed free-agency period — perhaps one starting in mid-July — before teams began reporting to training camps at the end of the month. Preseason games begin Aug. 7 with the Hall of Fame Game, and the N.F.L. estimates that $200 million in revenue would be lost for each week of the preseason that would be missed.

...

Free agency and training camps would not begin until a deal was completed, which would almost certainly include the resolution of the players’ antitrust lawsuit and probably the reconstitution of the players union. That process could take at least a week after an agreement in principle is reached, giving the two sides no more than another two or three weeks to complete a deal before training camps could be disrupted.

Hanging over the negotiations is the possibility of a ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on the league’s request to have the injunction that would end the lockout overturned. That decision could come at any time, although it is likely the three-judge panel will wait to see if a settlement can be reached. The sides have not grappled with benefits for retired players.

...

Remarks by the judges after oral arguments on June 3, which suggested that neither side would be entirely pleased with the outcome of the league’s appeal, have spurred this round of negotiations, which began in the days before the June 3 court appearance.
 

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