NFL Labor Talks: Fans Have the Most To Lose From a Lockout

Yesterday, as the eleventh hour drew near on NFL labor talks, the only thing the owners and NFLPA agreed upon was that the two sides would extend the deadline for reaching a new collective bargaining agreement by seven days.

Though it may seem like progress is being made, the reality is that the two sides may be no closer to reaching an agreement than when they first started talk even though both sides are fearful of the short term ramifications of a lockout.

Despite all the rhetoric over whether it is the players or the owners that have the most to lose should a new CBA not be reached, ultimately the average fan is the one with the most to lose.

That someone could even suggest the players—or the owners for that matter—are the greedier party in this economic climate is beyond absurd.  When it comes down to brass tax, both entities are making a tremendous amount more than the average fan, many of whom have to work two or more jobs just to be able to afford season tickets. 

Sure, going to a NFL game is a privilege, not a right, but for many it is a nice diversion from their daily lives.  Taking away that diversion almost seems criminal.

The players claim that their millions of dollars are just not enough, that they are living from paycheck to paycheck just as everyone else.  Yet did anyone tell them they had to go out and buy that mansion?  And do they really need multiple sports cars, many of which will never leave their garages? 

Sure, a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to, but every time I hear someone at work say "a million dollars isn't really that much these days" I want to smack them upside the back of their heads.  They might not be able to stretch a million that far, but I am sure I could make it last at least five to ten years.

Then there are the owners, who claim they are not getting their fair share of the current 9 billion dollars in revenue that the NFL generates.  Here's a thought: how about using discretion when spending the team's money?  There is nothing that says owners have to pay the number one pick in the draft $40 million in guaranteed money just because that is how much the top pick got last year.

The average fan just wants to see football, plain and simple. Preferably at a decent price.

That these two sides cannot see that is almost mind-numbing.  Roger Goodell, this is your chance to show the fans you care about them as well.