The Chicago Bears fans and many others are focused on the 2019 season. However, a few of the more educated have one eye turned towards 2021. That's because it is the year the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire. Anybody with a sharp memory can recall what happened the last time the NFL and the NFL Players Association went head-to-head in negotiations over a new deal.
It took place in 2011 and led to an owners lockout that cost offseason practices, training camp, and the preseason. Only with a few last-minute maneuvers were teams able to avoid missing actual games during the season. It was a difficult affair that angered a lot of fans. The concern this time around is it may be even worse.
There is a sense that the players are unhappy with the state of things from social justice issue to too much power in the hands of Commissioner Roger Goodell. There are a host of issues to work through. This is why the two sides have already begun negotiations on a new CBA. The hope is any bad feelings can be overcome before the risk of another stoppage.
What many people may not know is the popular issues may not be the biggest sticking point between the two sides. Not according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.
Chicago Bears fans may risk losing games to...stadium credits?
One of the biggest revenue keys for owners in the NFL is stadiums. One of the most difficult things to do is lure fans to games nowadays. Many feel the viewing experience at home is just as good as it would be going to one live. So teams have to get creative. They have to make the live experience memorable and unique. This is often done with new or remastered stadiums.
There's just a teeny, tiny problem. Stadiums are expensive. Really expensive. It takes a lot of money to build top-of-the-line ones. AT&T Stadium in Dallas cost $1.2 billion to construct. Other teams are hoping to update their own situations but currently don't have the money for it.
Their best chance to get it is with the new CBA.
"Historically, the CBA has provided NFL owners the ability to take money off the top of the revenue pile, before splitting it with players, to use for new stadium construction or stadium renovations. The owners effectively ran out of that money during the first half of the current deal; at this point, they would be unable to take out more stadium credits without pushing the players' share of gross revenue under 47%, which isn't allowed.
This is seen by many connected with the talks as the main reason the owners are interested in doing a new deal as soon as possible -- they need money to help with stadium projects in places such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Carolina, Washington and even Los Angeles, where Rams owner Stan Kroenke would likely enjoy a bit of league-sponsored help with his project...
...Union executive director DeMaurice Smith suggested in an interview with ESPN last summer that the players could seek, if the owners want to take stadium costs out of the players' end, to have a say in where and how those stadiums are built. That might be far-fetched, but it goes to show how the players feel about the stadium credit issue: They know it's important to the owners and think it's ground on which they might be able to secure other financial concessions."
The Cowboys pulled off their new house because Jerry Jones is absolutely loaded. Not every owner in the league has his deep pockets. So this issue is deadly serious to them. They don't want to go another decade without being up to improve their own situations. The players, by understanding how bad the owners want it, have leverage. They can shamelessly use it to their advantage to get benefits in other areas.
Benefits owners may not be willing to give. A lot of this depends on how far the players will dig in their heels on it. The longer it goes without any resolution, the more likely another stoppage becomes. Chicago Bears fans certainly have reason to worry.
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