Reply #3: R U the best in the world at it? Do millions watch YOU on TV or in the stands?

[Omaha Steve]

Dr. King would side with the workers. The billionaire owners want two more games a year for a lot less $, but won't open their books. Do you have what it takes to organize a union at work?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2011/2/6/940677/-NFL-lockout:-No-more-football-in-2011

NFL lockout: No more football in 2011?

This year we go into the Super Bowl facing the prospect that there will be no more NFL games in 2011. Why? Because the NFL's owners have chosen to opt out of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) two years early and are attempting to extract massive concessions from the NFL's players. If the players don't give in, the owners will lock them out and there will be no 2011-2012 NFL season.

That's something that cannot be repeated enough: This is entirely initiated by the owners. This collective bargaining agreement was extended for six years by a vote of the owners in 2006. Just two years later, they decided to opt out of the agreement, ending it two years early. The players just don't want to take pay and benefit cuts for a longer season that will make injuries more likely.

The owners claim that they need the players to take pay cuts if the NFL is to remain viable and profitable. But they won't release their books. Trust us, they're saying to players and fans alike. We're in financial trouble. But:

According to Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes SportsMoney, "The NFL has never been more profitable by our count with the average team earning $33 million in 2009 in operating profit (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) thanks to huge incomes for teams like the Cowboys, Patriots and Redskins."

The most recent Forbes NFL franchise valuations show 19 of 32 clubs being worth at least $1 billion. In Major League Baseball, where talk of a labor stoppage at the end of 2011 is nearly non-existent, only the Yankees have a valuation of over $1 billion, as ranked by Forbes.


FULL story at link.