Adjusted Winner Applied
to the 2011 NFL CBA
By: Matt Renault and Joe Moleski
History of Collective Bargaining Agreements
• The NFLPA was formed in 1968, and in that year the first CBA was
reached
• New CBAs are agreed on in 1977, 1982, and 1993
• The 1993 agreement is extended until the owners opt out in 2008,
meaning it will expire in 2011
Why the Owners Opted Out
• Officially, the owners stated that they were losing money due to
increased costs and needed a higher share of revenue
• In reality, under 1993 CBA, higher earning teams gave money to
lower earning teams
• This didn’t account for the extra costs higher earning teams had
• This was a dispute between owners, but needed a new CBA to settle it
The Lockout
• NFLPA votes in 2010 to renounce collective bargaining rights in
event of CBA expiring
• This would make an antitrust lawsuit possible
• CBA expires on March 11, 2013
• NFLPA renounces collective bargaining rights
• 10 NFL players file Brady antitrust suit against owners
The Lockout, cont.
• The lockout was invalidated and revalidated multiple times by
different courts over the summer
• While both sides want an agreement, owners have contingency
plans
• 2011 Draft was still allowed to happen
•
•
•
•
Owners approve a settlement on July 21
Ten players in Brady suit approve an adjusted settlement July 25
Players ratify on August 4, ending the lockout
Only one preseason game was missed
The Conflict
The Owners
The NFL Players Association
Points of Contention
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Salary Cap
Player’s Safety and Health Benefits
Revenue Sharing and Television Contracts
Transparency of Financial Information
Rookie Salaries
Season Length
Free Agency Guidelines
Salary Cap
The Owners – 10 Points
• Would like to keep this where it is to
save money
• Are willing to agree if they can cover
most of it with money saved from
decreasing rookie salaries
The NFLPA – 15 Points
• The players want more money
• Want an increase in the maximum
salary cap, minimum salary cap, and
minimum individual player salary
Player’s Safety and Health Benefits
The Owners – 5 Points
The NFLPA – 20 Points
• The owners do not really care about
this
• Players want less rigorous off-season
and in-season training and practice
• They only care about their best
players not getting injured
• They want to build more health
facilities and get more physical
trainers and doctors.
• Owners have no reason to put a lot
of value into it
Revenue Sharing and Television Contracts
The Owners – 20 Points
The NFLPA – 15 Points
• The owners wanted more money off
the top. Around $2.4 billion instead
of $1 billion
• The players want to remove the
money off the top and divide
everything instead.
• Wanted to increase their percentage
of the remaining revenue (about 41%)
because of an increase in costs
• Wanted to remain around the same
percentage they had (about 59%)
Transparency of Financial Information
The Owners – 15 Points
• The owners don’t want to disclose
anything (perhaps because they were
really making more than enough
money)
The NFLPA – 10 Points
• The players want the owners to
disclose financial information to
prove they really need the money
Rookie Salaries
The Owners – 25 Points
• The owners want to impose a new
rookie wage scale or salary cap to
prevent exploding rookie contracts
• This is very important because it has
essentially been a black hole for
revenue
• See: JeMarcus Russell’s $61 million
contract
The NFLPA – 5 Points
• Players don’t care about this
(veterans are negotiating)
• Will use this as a bargaining chip to
appease owners
Season Length
The Owners – 15 Points
• Owners want to extend season to 18
games to make more money
(increase league’s total revenue)
• Somewhat important, not as big as
revenue percentage
The NFLPA – 20 Points
• Players really want to keep season
the same length for health reasons
• Same value as safety/health because
players see it as a safety/health
issue
• Season had not been extended since
1978
Free Agency Guidelines
The Owners – 10 Points
• The owners want unrestricted free
agency to remain limited to 6 year
veterans
• Prevents them giving massive
contracts to players when rookie
contract expires
The NFLPA – 15 Points
• The players want this deadline
moved up to 4 years in league
• This would allow players to make the
money they deserve
Applying the Adjusted Winner Method
The Owners
NFLPA
Salary Cap
10
15
Players Safety and Health Benefits
5
20
Revenue Sharing and Television Contracts
20
15
Transparency of Financial Information
15
10
Rookie Salaries
25
5
Season Length
15
20
Free Agency Guidelines
10
15
TOTAL
60
70
Adjusted Winner Showing Rations
The Owners
NFLPA
Ratios
Salary Cap
10
15
1.5
Players Safety and Health Benefits
5
20
4.0
Revenue Sharing and Television
Contracts
20
15
Transparency of Financial
Information
15
10
Rookie Salaries
25
5
Season Length
15
20
1.333
Free Agency Guidelines
10
15
1.5
TOTAL
60
70
Splitting Season Length
This is entirely possible. While the item is not fluid per-se, there is
possibility for different compromises.
60 + 15x = 70 - 20 x
x = 0.29
Therefore, the Owners would get 29% of season length, and the
Players would keep 71%. This would result in 60 + 15(0.29) = 70 20(0.29) = 64.3 points each.
This split could be represented by extending regular season to 17
games and shortening preseason to 2 games
Final Results – Adjusted Winner
• The owners get revenue sharing and television contracts,
transparency of financial information, rookie contracts, and 29%
of season length.
• The players get player salary cap, safety and health benefits, free
agency guidelines, and 71% of season length.
Final Results – What Actually Happened
• The owners got revenue sharing and television contracts,
transparency of financial information, and rookie contracts
• The players got player salary cap, safety and health benefits, free
agency guidelines, and season length
Comparing our Solution to Reality
• Only difference was that season length was not split in reality and
went entirely to players
• So easy to predict because many items were essentially
predetermined
• Everyone knew a new rookie wage system would be devised, players would
get health benefits, and owners would end up with more revenue
• This agreement could have been made without lockout IF both
sides had been reasonable
• Both sides end up better off due to winning most important points
and only missing one preseason game
Sources
• http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/15348620/lockout-judgements-winners-losersturning-points (how it ended up)
• http://sports.yahoo.com/news/fans-guide-nfl-labor-battle-195100738--nfl.html
(some of the disputes coming into lockout)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_NFL_lockout (general information on lockout)
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/07/21/who-won-the-2011-nfllockout/ (Who won overall)
•
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleecestaxpayers/309448/ (Owners secretly making a ton)