Information from our legal correspondent, who won the 2011 NFL Lockout, can be found on this website.
The owners of the National Football League's 32 teams imposed a work stop on the players in March and July of 2011.The owners of the National Football League locked out the players when they couldn't agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.The salary cap, players' safety and health benefits, revenue sharing and television contracts, transparency of financial information, rookies salaries, season length, and free agency guidelines were all disputed.During the 18-week, 4-day period, there was no free agency or training camp and players were not allowed to communicate with their coaches.A new collective bargaining agreement was formed prior to the start of the regular season.
The National Football League and the NFL Players Association came to terms on a collective bargaining agreement in 1992.The agreement was renewed four times.The owners opted out of the 1993 arrangement and played the 2010 season without a salary cap.The last labor agreement gave players 57 percent of the league's $8 billion in revenue, after the owners took more than $1 billion for operating and development costs.The owners wanted a bigger percentage of league revenue.The transfer of revenues from the higher earning teams to the lowest was part of the previous CBA.The players, represented as the National Football League Players Association, were very skeptical that the owners were losing money as a result of their payments to players and believed the labor dispute was deliberately generated by some owners in order to renegotiate their own revenue sharing agreements.The players were against any pay cuts.[5]
The owners wanted to reduce the players' percentage of revenue, extend the regular season from 16 to 18 games, and establish a rookies wage scale in the next agreement.The players wanted guaranteed a higher percentage of league wide spending and cash spend by every team per the salary cap on players, more benefits for former players and changes to improve health and safety.[8]
In the fall of 2010 the players on every team voted unanimously to give up their collective bargaining rights if the current agreement is not renewed.The owners would be exposed to antitrust lawsuits if they gave up their rights.The ability to collectively bargain with the owners would be lost.The league is exempt from most antitrust laws because of Public Law 89-800, which was passed in the wake of the NFL–AFL merger in 1970.The NFL hired firms to lobby members of the U.S. Congress on their behalf, and their political action committee made several large donations to lawmakers who oversee the league in numerous capacities, as well as several other influential lawmakers.The players union hired firms to lobby members of the U.S. Congress on their behalf, according to a study by Edgeworth Economics.Congressmen said they would be willing to intervene if necessary.[7]
Even if the owners shut down the league and no games were played in 2011, the NFL would still get $4 billion from TV networks.The judge ruled in favor of the players on March 1, 2011.The purpose of the NFL's actions was to advance its own interests and harm the interests of players.[12]
The labor dispute between the players and owners was not resolved at the end of the 2010 season.The league owners and the players agreed to extend the negotiations by a week so that they could take place on March 11, 2011.A new agreement was not reached after a one-week extension.The owners imposed a lock out at midnight on March 11 after the collective bargaining agreement expired.The players voted to have the league and clubs give up their bargaining rights.The antitrust suit was filed after the renunciation of collective bargaining rights by the players.[15][16][17]
Susan Richard Nelson was the judge who ordered the league to resume operations.Nelson refused to stay the order while the league appealed.Most teams allowed players to enter the front office but refused further access, despite the fact that the players were advised to arrive at their teams' stadiums for work without being told.Without a collective bargaining agreement, there were no rules regarding a salary cap or floor, free agency, or similar labor-related issues.The league was granted a temporary stay of Nelson's ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on April 29, 2011.The stay was extended through at least June 3, when a full appeal was heard, but also suggested that Judge Nelson could impose an injunction on the players.[22]
The NFL draft was allowed to take place despite the lockout because of a provision in the collective bargaining agreement.If the labor dispute lasted into September and the start of the regular season was delayed, there was some cushion in the schedule.The entire season could be played in full if the Super Bowl is moved a week later.In addition, every game in Week 3 had teams that shared the same bye week later in the season, which would have allowed these games to be made up on what was originally the teams' byes.If the games had to be canceled in the 2nd and 4th weeks, the season would have been as fair as possible.The off week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl could be eliminated.Up to six weeks of the season could have been lost with moving week 3 games into the bye weeks, canceling weeks 2, 4, and 17 and moving weeks 1 and 5 to the end of season while postponing the playoffs one week.An abbreviated eight-game season was included in the league's plan for a longer lockout.The league did not consider using replacement players.There are 26 and 27 items.
Four former football players, including a Hall of Fame defensive end, filed a lawsuit against the league in March of 2011.The 44-page complaint was filed in federal court in Minneapolis.The retirees wanted to make sure their pensions and health benefits were funded.If a collective bargaining agreement is not renewed by March 11, the benefits will end, according to the lawsuit.[28]
On July 5, 2011, a group of retired NFL players led by Carl Eller, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen and Paul Krause filed a class-action lawsuit against the league and the union.[29]
The Oakland Raiders abstained from voting on the settlement because they did not approve all of the terms outlined in the proposal.The Brady case settlement became effective after a majority of the players in the NFL voted to approve it on August 4, 2011.Although the settlement was approved on July 25, the NFL didn't officially recognize the players' collective bargaining representative until July 30, 2011.When the agreement was signed, the lockout was over.[35]