Appeals Court Backs (NFL) Lockout, Tosses Judge's Ruling

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By BARRY WILNER

NEW YORK (AP) - The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out a judge's order lifting the NFL lockout, handing the league a victory as players and owners returned to negotiations.

The ruling was issued shortly after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith opened a second straight day of labor talks at a law firm in Manhattan.

The court vacated an April 25 decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson that the lockout should be lifted because players were suffering irreparable harm. The appeals court had already put that order on hold and said in its ruling that Nelson ignored federal law in reaching her decision.

"While we respect the court's decision, today's ruling does not change our mutual recognition that this matter must be resolved through negotiation," the league and NFLPA said in a joint statement. "We are committed to our current discussions and reaching a fair agreement that will benefit all parties for years to come, and allow for a full 2011 season."

Read more: http://sports.excite.com/news/07082011/v2697.html

[ProgressiveProfessor]

1. NFLPA? I thought they were disbanded and ancient history...

[Archae]

2. A pox on both sides.

Greedy and greedier.

[HankyDubs]

3. bullshit

the owners wanted to change the deal because they were so desperately poor. The owners orchestrated this. Place the blame where it belongs.

NFL players are just highly skilled/specialized workers. They have a right to bargain for the best deal they can get.

[elocs]

5. Even if we go with the high average of a career of 6-7 years,

there are so few football players who will ever have the talent to play in the NFL why would anyone begrudge a player from making as much money as possible in that amount of time given the sill level it takes to play in the NFL?

As long as there is no extortion or a gun being placed to anyone's head, NFL players deserve to get as much money as they can just like the rest of us should or would like to do.

[cstanleytech]

6. The same can be said for the owners of the teams deserving to get

as much money as they can since they do own the teams and no ones putting a gun to the players heads to only play for the NFL, just saying is all.
Personally though it wouldnt bother me if the entire NFL went bankrupt as I am not sports fan.

[Zavulon]

7. Does that include the owners?

Do they also deserve to get as much money as they can just like the rest of us should or would like to do?

I'm not trying to be a jerk with the question, I just find myself wondering where everyone's cutoff is. When I hear your argument at work, it seems that people there think it only applies to the players.

Personally, I'm disgusted by both sides - so much so that I couldn't care less if we have a season this year.

[HankyDubs]

9. absolutely it does

They had every right to end the labor agreement as it stood, but don't hand be this unadulterated bullshit about "both sides" when the owners are ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE for the lockout. The players didn't strike, didn't demand any more money. It was the poor persecuted owners who decided to screw this up, not the players.

[cstanleytech]

12. Maybe I misread it but havent the players done some questionable things?

By that I mean didnt they dissolve their union and then file a lawsuit trying to claim the NFL is a monopoly or some such?

[HankyDubs]

13. the players have done nothing wrong

The union de-certified as a tactic in the negotiation. There isn't anything even remotely shady about that.

The NFL IS a monopoly, which everyone knows. The NFL also deliberately deceives players about what their actual revenues are, and signed new TV deals in order to get more money even though they knew they were going to lock the players out.

[cstanleytech]

14. My apologies then

I didnt realize that no one else could form a new football league.

[HankyDubs]

15. I suggest you give it a try

see how it works out. The NFL has an anti-trust exemption. It is a monopoly. There is no debate on this.

[cstanleytech]

16. I'll pass on

forming my own league as I dont watch sports.
Though I wonder if the players have the money and or will to do it, it would after all require them to make a substantial investment in time and money.

[JonLP24]

22. I agree with most things you're saying

and am with 100% when it comes to this labor dispute but only MLB has a true antitrust exemption(which was a questionable decision at-best). However before I go further I notice you say "an" which could apply they limited antitrust exemptions which the NFL & other leagues do. So I apologize if that is what you meant.

The exemption is the NFL could negotiate league-wide broadcasting rights. The concession was they had to promise they would not compete with college or high school which is why I see the NFL not have any Saturday games until near the end of the season when the college regular season is over.

[JonLP24]

21. They had to

in order to sue on antitrust grounds. It stems from the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Pro Football, Inc. which stated the players association would have to decertify before a player could sue on antitrust grounds.

[Omaha Steve]

17. The owners get FREE taxer pd 4 stadiums, traffic control, etc

The players were happy with the old contract. They didn't ask for anything new. The owners wanted more games per year for less money. They cancelled the exiting contract. I back the players.

Os

[October]

19. Agree! /nt

[Archae]

8. Even...

Brett Favre, Randy Moss, Jim McMahon, the Vikings, and the Cowboys?

They all deserve all that money? :-)

[HankyDubs]

10. yes, they deserve it.

Brett Favre, like him or hate him (I hate him) was a terrific value for years and years and years, never missing a game and setting virtually every meaningful record at his position.

The players earn the going market rate for their services.

If you want to get into a discussion about why we pay athletes millions while pilots need food stamps to make ends meet, that's different. But in the current universe the players earn every single fucking penny.

And when you see how so many of the greatest players in the sport end up dead before they reach 60 (Walter Payton and Reggie White come to mind) I'll say again: Every single fucking penny.

[October]

20. Agree!

I mean it's the players' talent that sells those team jerseys and makes fortunes for the owners.

The owners are trying to bust a union. They build these stadiums on taxpayers' backs or threaten to leave -- and it's usually up to the city and taxpayers to demolish the older stadiums, too.

[laser_red]

11. if the average career was 3 and out...

would that make any difference?

[classysassy]

4. The Owners and their Judges

Justice in action.

[Omaha Steve]

18. NFL Lockout Could Cost $160 Million, 115,000 Jobs

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/12/03/nfl-lockout-could-cost-160-million-115000-jobs/

by James Parks, Dec 3, 2010

If the National Football League owners lock out the players next season, not only will millions of fans not have games to watch on Sunday afternoon, but more than 115,000 jobs could be lost, according to a new study.

The 32 NFL teams employ on average 3,739 people each, including players, concession workers and office staff. If the lockout lasts a long time, layoffs are likely and many of those jobs would not come back, said Jesse David, senior vice president of the economic consulting firm Edgeworth Economics, who conducted a study of the impact of a lockout for the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Check out a summary of the study here.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA0N0X58-OI&feature=player_embedded

Not only are the players affected, but the jobs of more than 25,000 concession workers at stadiums across the country are threatened by the lockout. (See video above.)

In a telephone press conference this morning, David and NFLPA official George Atallah said each NFL home game generates on average $20 million for the team and the community. A lockout could cost each of the 32 NFL cities. as much as $160 million, they said.

“A lockout would have an impact beyond the players,” Atallah said.

We want to raise public consciousness of the effect if the owners lock out the players.

FULL story at link.