NFL Players Association president DeMaurice Smith was a guest on ESPN 1050 in New York this afternoon to talk about the meeting between he and Roger Goodell before the Superbowl and the prospect of a lockout.
↵"Look we had a meeting on Saturday that was beneficial. I think productive because the two sides are talking. I think it’s better that we sit down and try to figure out the best way to get a deal done as quickly as possible. I think any time we do that it’s beneficial."
↵He was asked what the #1 "sticking point" between the two sides is... it should come as no surprise that it's money.
↵"Well the owners have asked the players to give them back a billion dollars a year for the next seven years. So for you, for the fans out there, they've [Owners] have asked the players to write them what amounts to basically a $7 billion check. The one thing that I think everybody out there would agree is before you wrote a $7 billion dollar check you'd ask yourself a couple of questions. One, why the $7 billion dollars? Two, what's the economic justification for players giving owners a $7 billion dollar payback over the next 7 years in the absence of anything that would suggest that football or the National Football League is on an economic decline, that viewers are on a decline."
↵He's right in that there's nothing to suggest the NFL is on any kind of decline. In fact, the league has boasted all season how it's ratings have been setting records. Once again, the Superbowl smashed ratings records... So it would come off as rather disingenuous of the owners to act as if their economic situation has changed in any way for the worse.
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