http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/music/news/story?id=6149286
As March 4th, the expiration of the current NFL CBA, approaches a lockout is looking more and more imminent. This article does a great job in simplifying a very complex situation and it puts it into the viewpoint of a fan. It is true, for the average fan the fiscal aspect of the NFL is irrelevant. We enjoy sitting on our couches on Sunday’s watching grown men battle it out on the gridiron. The off the field activities that make Sunday’s possible are irrelevant. For me, as a student hoping to start a career in the sports business world this is not so. Still, if we examine the misconceptions surrounding professional athletes we can see why these issues are so pertinent. It is hard to see a player earning millions of dollars a year and envision him struggling for money, but it is the case. It is true that the players do not see a large portion of the money guaranteed to them in the contracts, but that is not the problem. The problem is that many of these kids do not know how to manage money. They see big numbers and immediately feel the need to make big purchases. A college graduate who goes into finance making a similar salary does not usually go out and buy a new car even though they have much more job security than an injury prone athlete, unfortunately in the NFL and the world of sports extravagant purchases are commonplace. The league should do a better job at educating the players on how to handle money. The biggest problem that I see with the CBA dispute is that the players are getting smarter. Even though people in suits run the league, the players are the ones going out and putting their bodies on the line every week. They do not know how long their careers will last and thus they want to make sure that they are getting the most out of their time and that they will be taken care of afterwards. Transparency is the biggest problem. The owners keep their expenses hidden from the players. Information is the gateway to success and currently the owners are trying to keep their information private. I still believe that the two sides will come to an agreement before next season, but I am less and less optimistic that the agreement will be reached before the deadline on Friday. This is going to be an interesting week. It is evident that the NFL is not solely about playing football it is a business.