For essentially the same reasons, the National Basketball Association has joined the National Football League in locking all of its players from team facilities. What this means is that half of our major professional sports leagues are shut down, with the likelihood that portions of the upcoming season in both football and basketball could be cut, particularly with the NBA.
It is widely believe, including by me, that a resolution will be realized by the disparate NFL interests long before any agreement is consummated by those in the NBA. Primarily out of necessity, NFL players are motivated to settle their collective differences with ownership, as they are not nearly as well paid, on average, as their NBA counterparts. A prolonged work stoppage, including the loss of regular season games, would jeopardize the long-term financial prospects of many NFL players.
They've Got It Made
The same level of desperation is not prevalent within the NBA player ranks, who on average earn an annual salary just south of five million dollars. The average salary for an NFL player is 'only' about 1.3 million dollars, and the average career span of the NFLer is far less than that of the average NBAer.
That being said, the real villians in these respective situations, if you are particularly sympathetic to the players' contentions, are the team owners. As many are aware, owners are extremely wealthy individuals, or clusters of persons, who could comfortably withstand the overall losses even a protracted lockout would surely deliver. Players and their representatives in both leagues have asserted for quite some time that owners are reaping a disproportionate amount of the total league revenues, which are, in the NFL's case, roughly nine billion dollars.
Greed Is (Not) Good
Obviously, that's a substantial chunk of change; I believe that is a conservative estimate, considering that in at least a few cases the revenue projections have been as high as sixteen billion dollars. Regardless of the specific valuation, it is difficult for me to muster up any modicum of pity for the affected parties here, including the players. Taking into account that rampant unemployment and incapacitating economic malaise persist throughout every region of the country, the fact that billionaire owners and, generally speaking, multi-millionaire players are squabbling over how to more equitably divvy up what is basically fandom's loyally donated tax dollars.
I tend to believe that the groups who have really been the recipients of the shaft are the leagues' retirees, the ones who, by and large, honorably formed the bedrock of each entity but who have not experienced appreciable and widespread monetary support. A marked increase in the financial assistance of former players is long overdue. Truth be told, I think it's absolutely necessary in terms of not only arresting any further deterioration of the overall fan base to to actually bring more caustic fans back into the fold.
Other Options Available
Let's not forget, there are still scheduled to be college football and basketball games to be played beginning in the fall. Depending on who you ask, a majority of sports fans, specifically basketball enthusiasts, prefer watching the college game. I am of that opinion as well, and have been for a long time, although the exponentially increasing amount of corporate dollars pouring into major college sports is worrisome.
Anyway, we're still into the first twenty-four hours of the 2011 National Hockey League free agency. The NBA and NFL aren't the only games in town, so to speak.
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