Owners around the league put forth a new 18-game NFL season proposition to the players amidst their collective bargaining agreement discussions. While this may be something we’ve heard before from owners, this is different than previous ideas. This concept proposes that the NFL adopt an 18-game season, however, every player is limited to only 16 games. The idea is new and innovative, but it could never work. However, those behind this suggestion don’t actually want it to pass. We’ll get into that, but let’s discuss why this idea wouldn’t work.
Product Dilution
The NFL has been widely criticized for their greediness in relation to the game. Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban, in an interview in 2014, said, “Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I’m just telling you, when you’ve got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That’s rule No. 1 of business.” This statement was made in regards to the NFL expanding the amount of Thursday Night Football games. And, he was right. Fans have complained for years about how poor the product has been on Thursday nights.
Now, you want to add two more weeks of potentially poor football? I can’t make much sense of that. There are already weeks where the matchups aren’t enticing. It would be one thing if we knew we’d see potential playoff previews or a hotly-contested rivalry, but that’s not the case. It’s more likely that we’ll see more Jets-Bills-like games. I’m a football guy, and even I don’t look forward to that.
Gambling
Once the mortal enemy of sports, gambling has found itself involved with the NFL in business. During this past year’s postseason, the league announced a partnership with Caesars making them their first casino sponsor. Now that the NFL has started on the path to accepting gambling, this proposition could be a huge problem. Line shifts and insider information could be BIG issues with players being forced to sit out. It’s more likely that someone will be able to find out early that a team’s QB isn’t playing, creating an advantage for the opposing team. This would be a very bad look for the NFL, and it would be likely that a scandal with gambling would set the league back decades from all of the progress they’ve made on that front.
It’s a Ploy
This is an attempt by the owners to get what they want. And, no, it’s not an 18-game season with a 16-game-per-player limit. The NFLPA is probably the worst union in professional sports. Players have no power in the NFL. Look at the other professional leagues. The players get money, they get to play where they want, they get programs that they find beneficial to them. NFL players are the only players whose contracts are not guaranteed. Of all four professional sports teams, football (alongside hockey) should be the ones seeing the guaranteed money. I get it. There are 53 players opposed to 25 in the MLB, 15 for the NBA, and 23 for the NHL. However, even it means the total in the contracts goes down, wouldn’t it be better to see more guarantees overall?
What owners are doing here is offering this idea and using as a bargaining chip. They’ll take it off the table and act like they’re doing a favor to the players. I’m not even sure what the owners and players want at this point. We know the players want to remove marijuana from the league’s drug policy and work towards getting contracts guaranteed. Owners, on the other hand, are looking to make more money is any way possible. The only way I see them taking EVEN MORE is by giving up one of the other chips for an 18-game schedule, but not the one that’s being proposed here.
In the last CBA, the players gave up A LOT in terms of revenue sharing. After the 2006 CBA, the players were receiving 60% of the total revenue. In 2011, that was dropped to roughly 48%. Last year, the NFL made $8.1 billion. That 12% drop is worth $972 million. Spread out over the active NFL players that money (less than $500,000 per player) doesn’t mean much, but to those on the bubble, it makes a world of difference.
Out of that negotiation, the players got a fair amount in return (less padded practices, pension increases, low guarantees for injured players, etc), but they could’ve received so much more. They have to be willing to sit out. If the owners start losing money, the players will be able to actually get something done. If they truly want more money, an easier drug policy, or getting rid of the franchise tag they have to be willing to sacrifice a few weeks of pay for the long-term betterment for the NFL players.
Dear players, the owners don’t want this version of the 18-game season. Don’t let them use it as a chip that means nothing to them.