Marketplace Today Blog

By Tom Silverstein
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell responded forcefully to claims from the players’ union that the owners are preparing for a lockout in 2011.

Goodell’s message during his state-of-the-NFL address Friday at the city convention center was that the owners want a new collective bargaining agreement completed as soon as possible and don’t want a lockout.

“We want an agreement that’s fair to the game, to the players and will allow us to continue to invest in the game,” Goodell said. “The idea that ownership would be anxious for a work stoppage is absolutely false.

“You don’t make money by shutting down your business. It’s a bad scenario for everybody.”

Union chief DeMaurice Smith said Thursday that on a scale of 1 to 10, he thought the chance of a lockout in 2011 was a 14. Goodell said he hopes that prediction doesn’t come true, but he also made it clear the owners can’t live with the deal they gave the players in 2006.

The owners are the ones who opted out of the current agreement, setting up a 2010 season that will not have a salary cap and will alter free agency. The current deal expires after the ‘10 season, and unless a new agreement is reached the two sides will be staring at a work stoppage.

“Talking about options like work stoppages is not going to get us there,” Goodell said. “We need to sit down and make those deals and figure out how to structure something that makes sense.”

Goodell did not address fully the union’s claim that the owners want an 18% giveback on the new deal, but he did say the owners can’t go on like this. The union claims the 32 teams averaged $21 million in profit last year and that there is no practical reason for the players to give back a percentage of their earnings.

Goodell said the owners regret agreeing to the deal they gave the players in 2006.

“There are things we agreed to that we shouldn’t have,” he said. “We need to go back and get that fixed. There are a lot of changes in the NFL economics over the years. Most specifically, the investments they are making in stadiums and operating those stadiums and the capital improvements required for those stadiums.

“That takes a significant investment that we didn’t have 20 years ago, and our system has to recognize that.”

A meeting between ownership and the union had been scheduled for Saturday, but Goodell did not say whether it would take place.

Other issues Goodell addressed:

Increasing the number of regular-season games: Goodell said the owners will continue to push for an 18-game schedule in order to maximize revenue and give fans a better product.

Overtime: He said the current overtime system has been examined many times and he doesn’t foresee it changing.

Franchise movement: The league is still working to get a team in Los Angeles, but Goodell said he would like teams such as St. Louis and Jacksonville to remain where they are. The Rams are currently for sale.

Reinstatement: Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth, who was suspended for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk last March in the Miami area, will be reinstated after the Super Bowl.