NFL Labor Issues: 20 Industries That Would Be Affected by the 2011 Lockout
With each passing week in February, we near the March 3 deadline, when NFL players will be locked out from their own team facilities.
Owners will be taking a hardball stance towards the lack of a collective bargaining agreement in place, and things will be getting testy going forward.
When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the next round of negotiations between the owners and the NFLPA had been canceled, it sent up a red flag that the prospects of a lockout are becoming more and more realistic.
So what if there is a lockout and the 2011 NFL season never comes to fruition? What would some of the businesses or industries be that would be directly impacted by the lockout? Some are obvious, and some are not so obvious. You might consider some of these choices to be serious, while others could be viewed as tongue-in-cheek.
Whatever side you choose in the labor dispute, one thing is clear: 2011 without NFL football would change quite a few livelihoods. Can you imagine NFL players wearing picket billboard signs like they did in 1987?
Sporting Goods Manufacturers
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The major sporting good companies would all take a hit. Wilson, Adidas, Nike, Riddell, New Era Caps—all of them would see a major hit in sales of their sporting goods equipment. If the sales drop, which means the bottom line is impacted, it probably goes without saying that layoffs are soon to follow.
Just what the United States economy needs: more layoffs, fewer jobs and more people on unemployment. It is a vicious circle, but that is the reality of how things work.
NFL Chain Gangs
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Okay, so this is going to represent the smallest population of any of the slides, but if you are employed as one of the NFL chain gang employees and there is no NFL, I would imagine you are going to be looking for something else to do.
The same would be true for the clock operators and other game-day employees that are only hired to come to work on game day.
Fantasy Football Leagues
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NFL fantasy football continues to be a booming business. Some individuals play in multiple leagues, and if you have enough free time that you become really good at it, there are some fantasy players that are earning some serious bucks by winning in large payout leagues.
What happens to all of those fantasy leagues? There is no draft, no games, no season.
There is no need to have league commissioners. There are no draft day publications to buy, no special software to download, no pacing for weeks prior to the draft trying to figure out what each player is worth or where to slot the backup quarterback to Brett Favre. If you are a player, you know what I am talking about.
We would be remiss if we didn't mention the companies that are set up to run fantasy football leagues. They agreed to pay the NFL a boatload of cash to have the right or privilege to use NFL players and their stats to serve as a basic ingredient for fantasy football games. They suddenly lose all of their income stream, and then they have to call their lawyers. It is going to get messy.
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Sports Bars
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Think of how many people flock on Sundays to their favorite sports bars to watch their team play. So many fans of NFL teams have relocated around the country, or the world for that matter, and the only way they can typically see their teams play is by going to a sports bar that has the necessary satellite feed to carry the game.
You do have the option of purchasing a package deal from the NFL.com and watching the game at home or later on Sunday evening if you are willing to wait and see it later. But that option means that you are going to have make your own chicken wings, and there are not going to be any waitresses waiting on you either. Not only that, but you are going to have get up off the couch and get your own beer. Ugh.
Satellite Cable Companies
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Think of all the advertisements you have seen for the Dish Network or for any other satellite cable company that offers a yearly subscription deal that includes NFL programming. How many people have gone ahead and purchased those package deals and had the satellite installed on their roofs?
Now imagine that there are not any kind of NFL games to watch. Oh, to be a customer service representative for those companies.
Again, more calls to attorneys, and more legal mumbo jumbo.
Las Vegas
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Ah, the Las Vegas sports book scene. Have visited there once or twice in my past. Think of all of the people that make treks to Las Vegas throughout the NFL season to put a little wager down on a game or two. Odds to reach the Super Bowl, or how about all of the betting on the Super Bowl game itself and all of the wacky propositions just for the big game?
The employees of the casinos, the airlines that fly everyone in and out of the city—and we didn't even touch yet on the gambling industry as a whole.
How about all of the sports bookies out there? Think of the weekly expert forecasting shows. Think of a weekend without hearing, "I have nailed 65 percent of my picks on Monday Night Football when the visiting team is getting three-and-a-half points." Actually, that is something that sounds pretty good—the tranquility.
NFL Cheerleaders
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Think of all of those NFL cheerleaders. What on earth are they going to be doing without cheering on Sundays?
There won't be tryouts for the team since there is no team. They won't be making public appearances at schools and hospitals because there won't be any cheerleader squads that are active. Same thing can be said for all the NFL cheerleader choreographers.
The people that make the NFL cheerleader calendars won't be making any new editions. The countless photographers that take the calendar shots will have to find something else to do.
What about those poor guys that have to stand there and hold up the screen next to the cheerleaders or models that create the proper lighting for each shot? What are they going to be doing all year when they have no shoots to attend?
What about the pom-pom manufacturers? What about the team mascots? What about the makers of those high white leather boots? So many questions.
Stadium Vendors
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Think of all of the vendors that you have bought beer, soda, water, popcorn, ice cream, peanuts, hot dogs and pizza from over the years. Depending on what NFL stadiums you attend, you can see a wide array of different kinds of regional food that is unique to that part of the country.
All of the vendors, the ushers, the ticket takers—every one of them will need to figure out a new way to replace the income they lost on Sundays.
NFL Films
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The Sabol family has made a name for itself over the years by filming great footage of NFL games. They bring the highlights from every game to us filled with great footage, the sounds of players knocking heads, motivating music and the wonderful narration from John Facenda.
Speaking of which, I assume we will be left to watch lots of NFL Films reruns.
Obviously an NFL lockout would impact this entire company and all of their employees.
Maybe a NFL lockout for a year will put on ice any more Sabols gaining entrance into the Hall of Fame. The vote that put in Ed Sabol this year denied some talented wide receivers from gaining the necessary votes needed for enshrinement.
That was intended as a vote of confidence for Cris Carter, Andre Reed and Tim Brown, as all three gifted receivers deserve to get in. I would rather see the Sabols come in under a special or different category.
Commercials and NFL Sponsors
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What would a Super Bowl be without the Budweiser Clydesdale horses?
Think of all the commercials that have been produced over the years. The production companies that make the commercials. The official NFL sponsors that have signed up for lucrative sponsorship deals. Madison Avenue would definitely take a major hit.
Think of the companies that have spent many millions to have their ads running in NFL stadiums or had a stadium named after their company. From television sponsors to radio sponsors for NFL games, the advertisement revenues that are generated during an NFL season are huge. For all of that to go away for one year is mind-blowing.
The Institution of Marriage
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Now we take a look at how some industries are affected by the fact that we no longer have NFL games to watch on Sundays. Instead of getting together with your buddies to go watch the game at the local pub, you now are finding yourself home for the entire weekend.
Your wife, your girlfriend or your significant other has been itching to go away for the weekend somewhere, and with no games to watch, you find yourself picking up the phone and making reservations to go away to some exotic location for the weekend.
This trip rekindles your relationship, and the next thing you know there are more weddings, more babies—well, I guess you get the idea.
Of course, I also know that there are many female NFL fans that are into the sport, but their husbands or significant others are not. This slide is for you as well.
Bed and Breakfast Industry
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You pick up the phone and make that call to a bed and breakfast spot that she has been wanting to go to. Suddenly, B&Bs are doing big business all throughout the fall—not to mention the cruise ships, the airlines and the hotels.
My apologies for the photo, but even though I had trouble finding a proper bed and breakfast inn shot to use, the concept of these gentlemen coming up with the theory that one keg equals bed and breakfast was something that was pretty funny. Well, at least it was to me.
Divorce Lawyers
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Okay, so only so many divorce lawyers are needed to try to figure out how to divide up the Los Angeles Dodgers. But with all of the hardy NFL fans spending so much quality time on weekends with their mates, the quality of their relationships starts improving right across the country.
Before long, all of those potential divorces have now strengthened their bonds and vows, so the phone stops ringing at law firms that specialize in divorces. Oh, those poor attorneys. It could happen, right?
The ripple effects are too long to list. Judges, court reporters, depositions, paperwork. Think of all the trees that would be saved. It would have an impact on rain forests and global warming as well.
College Football
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Without NFL games to watch, more football fans will have to get their football fix by watching college football games. There is the indoor football league, the UFL and the Canadian Football League, but purists will turn back to college football in droves if they weren't watching it regularly already.
Some people prefer the college game anyway, and especially for regions of the country that do not have a local NFL team, the college game is their cup of tea.
At least with college football, we have not dealt with a lockout. Sure, some programs are put on a long probation, and some programs are given the death sentence, but by and large college football is something that you can count on year in and year out. The NFL, not so much.
Mixed Martial Arts
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Without a regular NFL paycheck to pay the bills, how many current NFL players would consider going into the world of mixed martial arts?
It's not like there haven't been other NFL players that have tried to make a living as MMA fighters. The list of ex-NFL players or NFL wannabes that became MMA fighters seems to be getting longer and longer each year.
To give you some examples, we have a wide range of MMA skill, from the embarrassing (Johnnie Morton) to the impressive (Brock Lesnar, Matt Mitrione and Herschel Walker).
Other former NFL players that have trotted out their skills in the ring include Brendan Schaub (pictured), Marcus Jones, Wes Shivers, Alonzo Spellman, Bobby Jones and Michael Westbrook.
Not only will you have NFL players considering the move to MMA for a career, but you will also have NFL fans that need to see some violent collisions or physical contact getting into watching mixed martial arts. Warning: It can become addicting.
Religion
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Okay, how many times have you intended to go to church on Sunday, but your plans got derailed because of the NFL? Guilty as charged.
Without the NFL playing on Sundays, I suspect that attendance in churches across the country would go up and people would find religion again. Pardon the pun.
No matter how much I pray, the Buffalo Bills aren't going to be winning a Super Bowl very soon, but I still would make it a point to attend services more frequently than I do now. I wonder if my reverend is reading this article.
NYC Firemen
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Maybe now there will be more firemen available in New York City on Sundays to put the fires out.
Apologies to New York Jets fans and to brave firemen everywhere.
Broadcasters and the Media
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Think of every television show that is based on the NFL. The ESPN shows, the NFL Network, Inside the NFL on Showtime. All the broadcast teams, the radio announcers, the sideline reporters. The analysts, the local TV shows hosted by former or current players. The cameramen and the guys that hold up the audio equipment to bring all the wonderful sounds of helmets and shoulder pads colliding.
How about all of the employees back in the production truck? The network host shows with Terry Bradshaw, Dan Marino, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Cowher and Howie Long. The Boomer. What about Mort, Mike Mayock, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay?
Think of all of the wonderful, thought-provoking articles you have read in the last year by your favorite Bleacher Report Featured Columnists. Okay, stop me when I have gone too far.
College Degrees
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Consider how many underclassmen declare for the draft every season. They still have not been able to complete their college degrees. Shouldn't everybody have the chance to experience all of the pomp and circumstance of seeing their college professors dress up in all of their fancy robes?
With all this free time on their hands, players could go back to college and finish their degrees. They can enroll in whatever classes they didn't finish, and think of how exciting it would be for the other students to have NFL players as a lab partner or as a classmate. Maybe more kids would go to college.
I can just see it now: lines of 50 deep to sign autographs when they go to the school cafeteria for lunch every day. The price of a good college education.
Tailgating
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Is there anything better than going to the stadium three or four hours before kickoff, setting up your tailgating location to perfection and then cooking up your favorite food and knocking back some cold ones with your best friends? The entire tailgating experience would be put on hold for a year until the lockout has ended.
All of the barbecue equipment, drinking shots out of a bowling ball (it is still allowed in Buffalo, but only to a select few now), the chicken wings, the hot dogs, the burgers, the sausages and steaks. All of the brew that would have been consumed. No drinking games, and no shouting matches when somebody walks by wearing the enemy jerseys.
Beer manufacturers. Would anybody drink Iron City Beer in Pittsburgh if it wasn't for the Steelers? These are just some of the hard questions that need to be asked.
The NFL Players, the Coaches and Roger Goodell
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Last but not least, what about the players themselves? The head coaches and their coaching staffs. The equipment managers, the team doctors and all the trainers. The NFL personnel in New York City. Roger Goodell. The owners, the general managers and the scouts.
Everybody is impacted by the pending lockout. There were a number of other areas I could have touched on, but hopefully you got the point of the piece. The NFL is woven into the very fabric of our culture. If the NFL has a lockout and the 2011 season does not come to fruition, it will have a broad-based effect on many lives.
We all hope that cooler heads will prevail and that the powers at be will find a way to bring a new collective bargaining agreement into place.
If they can't make it happen, then you can reflect on how things would change. Let your imagination run wild.
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