The NFL Lockout: A British Perspective

It seems that the people suffering most in the fight between millionaires and billionaires is the fans. As a massive NFL fan living in the UK the whole lockout situation is extremely bizarre.

The concept that players can be locked out by their owners is something that could never ever happen in the UK. There are no agreements between players and owners, and in most British sports it is normal that players have more power than owners. This may be wrong, but it at least guarantees sporting action.

An example of this is the Carson Palmer situation; he wants a trade out of Cincinnati but Mike Brown appears set to refuse this request. If someone playing soccer anywhere in Europe wanted a move out, they would get that move. The amount of players that force their teams to let them leave is now countless. The fact that I am used to this type of situation between players and owners means the NFL lockout is almost beyond my comprehension.

Through all the negotiations and federal mediation between the two sides I thought it was only a matter of time before everything was sorted out. I realise that I was very ignorant in thinking that an agreement would be reached. I felt that there was no way that owners and players would risk losing a whole season. It appears that an agreement won’t be reached for a good few months, so surely the 2011 season will be lacking in quality compared to previous seasons.

The fact that everything will start late, if at all, is very worrying for any fan. Personally, I find myself being in favour of the players, as it was the owners who opted out and it is the NFL who is acting in a hypocritical way. Roger Goodell goes on about player safety, yet wants to increase the season by two games. He says this is because of fans complaining about the poor quality in the pre-season games. Why not dramatically reduce ticket prices so fans won’t expect as much for their money?

Since I started watching the NFL, Sunday nights have become my favourite part of the week. Sunday games start here at 6 in the evening, and the second round of Sunday games start at 9.15. It is the perfect end to every weekend, and the idea of not having this for approximately 18 months is unthinkable.

I’m sure I would come back to the NFL even if the whole 2011 season is lost. I cannot say the same thing about casual UK and European fans. The NFL is not only risking losing their USA audience, but all the work they have done to take the game global will be decimated. Like most people in UK and Europe, we cannot understand how this situation can be allowed to happen. Fans will turn off from the game and the interest gained by overseas games will probably not return.

Personally I am even angrier about the lockout because I believe it may have played a part in Andrew Luck not declaring for the NFL draft. Whilst I don’t believe it was the only reason, it probably played a part. As a fan of the Carolina Panthers I placed a lot of hope in that we would get Luck (may still happen the 2012 draft if things don’t drastically improve).

The April 6^th court date seems vital, although the fact that it won’t be judged by Judge Doty is a worry, as I thought he would be able to push through an agreement. In the UK we don’t get as much coverage for the training camps or OTA’s, so as long as the regular season starts as scheduled I will be content. The NFL was finally building a credible base in the UK, and people are starting to understand the rules of the sport more, but a lockout will mean we just go back to our tried and tested sports, and judge the NFL as a sport not made for a global audience.