NFL Master Thread

[CountValentine]

On the contrary, I'm not on the side of the owners, I think the union should do much better than they've done.

That is a valid point. My point is that the players would be worse off without the union.
As @S209 has pointed out you have to look at the total package.

[S209]

They also seem to be the only sport where the team can promise a player a contract, but only needs to guarantee a portion of it.

The flip side of this is there’s a hard cap where a lot of contracts count for dead money against the cap even if not paid, so often if structured properly a player would have to be *really* useless to get cut. This is the primary reason Zach Wilson isn’t likely to be cut anytime soon despite his contract not being guaranteed and his obvious football ineptitude.

[Yehuda57]

https://twitter.com/LevAkabas/status/1611363505806139392

Methinks the players have more than enough leverage to bargain for much more than they have.

[CountValentine]

I like this part: For starters, they'll vote on a neutral site for the AFC Championship Game. This would take place if the game involves the Bills and/or Bengals.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/look-1-nfl-team-furious-with-league-s-decision-after-bills-bengals-cancellation/ar-AA162CUy?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=43b1bebec3654ff6bc69c1a9579085c3

[Yehuda57]

Good news

Amazing

https://twitter.com/BuffaloBills/status/1611383102013857792

[jj1000]

https://twitter.com/LevAkabas/status/1611363505806139392

Methinks the players have more than enough leverage to bargain for much more than they have.

I'm sure this has to do with live TV being a dying culture.

[S209]

I'm sure this has to do with live TV being a dying culture.

Not necessarily. 30 of the 32 most watched broadcasts of all time are Super Bowls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_States

[Yehuda57]

I'm sure this has to do with live TV being a dying culture.

Except for live sports.

No NBA or MLB game cracks the top 100. A Jaguars - Panthers* game will get more viewers than the World Series

[jj1000]

Not necessarily. 30 of the 32 most watched broadcasts of all time are Super Bowls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_television_broadcasts_in_the_United_States

I am missing a connection?

Except for live sports.

No NBA or MLB game cracks the top 100. A Jaguars - Panthers* game will get more viewers than the World Series

Those sports were never ranked high.... Take a look at this list from 2000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_United_States_television_broadcasts_of_2000

What's changed? One word: NETFLIX

I'm not trying to be scientific about this, it's just obvious that people aren't tuning into live broadcasts for TV shows like they used to.

[CountValentine]

I am missing a connection?

Football live TV blows away all other sports and that is not going to change.

[Yehuda57]

I am missing a connection?
Those sports were never ranked high.... Take a look at this list from 2000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_United_States_television_broadcasts_of_2000

What's changed? One word: NETFLIX

I'm not trying to be scientific about this, it's just obvious that people aren't tuning into live broadcasts for TV shows like they used to.

My point was not about how many people are watching live TV, it is about how much more money the NFL is pulling in compared to other sports.

Per Wikipedia:

The NFL has the largest television contracts, and earns over $6 billion annually from its contracts with Fox, CBS, NBC, ESPN and DirecTV for the 2014 through 2022 seasons.[6] MLB earns $1.5 billion annually from its contracts signed in 2012 with ESPN, Fox, and Turner Sports (TBS) for the 2014 through 2021 seasons.[7] In 2014, the NBA signed a nine-year television deal with ABC/ESPN and TNT that generates annual league television revenues of $2.66 billion beginning with the 2016–17 season,[8] while the NHL earns $625 million annually from seven-year contracts signed in 2021 with ESPN and Turner Sports to last until the 2027–28 season.

ALL players should be earning way, way more money, especially to cover the very well documented medical problems football causes.

[jj1000]

Just post this... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_professional_sports_leagues_by_revenue

[CountValentine]

ALL players should be earning way, way more money, especially to cover the very well documented medical problems football causes.

So the owners are treating them unfairly?

[Yehuda57]

So the owners are treating them unfairly?

Hard to say "unfair" when the union agreed to the contract. I think the union should be driving a harder bargain.

[Euclid]

The main issue is that the shelf life of an NFL player is 4 years, so the union is very susceptible to members breaking ranks, and therefore it's a very weak union.

It's a real vicious cycle because the union needs to be strong since their members are putting themselves in harm's way. But since they're putting themselves in harm's way (and their shelf life is very short) the turnover rate of the union members is so high which makes the union very weak.

[farmbochur]

The main issue is that the shelf life of an NFL player is 4 years, so the union is very susceptible to members breaking ranks, and therefore it's a very weak union.

It's a real vicious cycle because the union needs to be strong since their members are putting themselves in harms way. But since they're putting themselves in harms way (and their shelf life is very short) the turnover rate of the union members is so high which makes the union very weak.

4 seems high. I always thought it was 2-3 years. Either way, maybe the solution is to let players retain union membership for X years after retirement?

[CountValentine]

Hard to say "unfair" when the union agreed to the contract. I think the union should be driving a harder bargain.

Shouldn't the owners treat them better without the union involvement?

If they want to give them guaranteed contracts, I don't see the union being in their way. 

[farmbochur]

I like this part: For starters, they'll vote on a neutral site for the AFC Championship Game. This wcould take place if the game involves the Bills and/or Bengals.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/look-1-nfl-team-furious-with-league-s-decision-after-bills-bengals-cancellation/ar-AA162CUy?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=43b1bebec3654ff6bc69c1a9579085c3

-1/2, FTFY

Neutral site is possible only if conference championship involves teams with unequal games played.

CIN vs BUF would be hosted by team with the higher seed.

KC vs CIN/BUF would be hosted at neutral site if week 18 results produce an outcome where CIN/BUF could have obtained the 1 seed if not for the cancelled game.

Playing around with the ESPN simulator, there no outcome where CIN can claim the 1 seed so BUF @ CIN can't be a championship game matchup, though it could be a divisional round matchup if BUF falls to the 3 seed and CIN takes the 2 seed.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/playoffs/machine

[Yehuda57]

Shouldn't the owners treat them better without the union involvement?

If they want to give them guaranteed contracts, I don't see the union being in their way. 

I have no expectation or dream that the owners would do anything close to the "right" thing without being forced

[yuneeq]

Shouldn't the owners treat them better without the union involvement?

If they want to give them guaranteed contracts, I don't see the union being in their way. 

That’s pretty naive. There’s so many moving parts and too much money involved to unilaterally start guaranteeing all contracts. Cap management would drastically change, every roster would have to be completely redone, and players salaries will go down. It can’t happen without a new CBA, which isn’t due for another 8 years.

Even with cooperation between all sides, it would take years of easing in the “all contracts guaranteed” requirement.