If you're tired of the feuding between NFL owners and players over how best to settle up the billions of dollars in annual revenue that we give them, it's time to take action.
Sports Fans Coalition, the only nonprofit fighting to bring the voice of sports fans to the halls of power, is launching a major campaign to Save Next Season. Fans can now sign a petition demanding that NFL owners and players guarantee that no matter how they divide up our money, there will be a full season of NFL games next fall.
If you're unfamiliar with why next season needs saving -- or you need a refresher -- here's a brief review of the situation.
The owners decided two years ago they didn't want to continue with the current collective bargaining agreement and the expiration date has finally come. Just six weeks from now, the current agreement will expire and if it does, the chances of football games being canceled next season will significantly increase.
The owners feel the long-term economic forecast for the NFL looks gloomy unless they can take a larger share of the revenues off the top and "grow the game." The players argue that the game has never been more successful and are skeptical of the owners concerns. The owners also want an 18-game season rather than the current 16-game season. The players counter that that means more injuries in a league with a 100% injury rate.
Some owners are so convinced that the current agreement is bad that they are willing to miss games next season by locking out the players. When asked if he thought a lockout would be disastrous for the game, Jerry Jones replied, "No. I do not."
One thing is clear: a lockout would be disastrous for fans. Not only would be miss the game we love, we would have wasted billions of dollars. Fans and taxpayers have already spent at least $7 billion on financing NFL stadiums. The least the owners and players can do is play the games. Otherwise, communities deserve some of that money back from the pockets of owners and players.
With that in mind, we need every NFL fan to go to SaveNextSeason.com and sign the petition demanding both sides guarantee a full 2011 season. Please do this by February 28, at which point we will present the signatures at NFL offices in New York.
Up until now, sports fans have never really be able to organize into a national voice. This has led the owners and players to be far less concerned about the interests of those fans than they should be. But imagine if we got 100,000 fans to join together to let them know that we are here and we have concerns. How about a million fans?!?
If you have any doubts about whether a petition can make a difference, trust me, it can. And it will. The NFL and the NFLPA are already very concerned about how Sports Fans Coalition speaks on this issue. With enough fans behind us, we'll be able to demand a seat at the bargaining table. (And we can also demand an end to the blackout rule.)
All you have to do is sign the petition and tell all your friends to sign. And if you want to help spread the word in more creative ways, drop me a line.
If you don't think the fans should get involved, remember that the fans are already involved. We've spent over $7 billion to make the NFL the most profitable sports league in the world.
This isn't owners versus players. It's owners and players versus the fans. And the sooner we come together, the sooner we can Save Next Season.
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