NFL owners unfair in dispute

As of this morning, we are 10 days into the NFL’s announced lockout of the players. The lockout stems from owners and the players’ union unable to strike a deal regarding the appropriation of $9 billion of annual league revenue.

The public is enraged as mainstream media frames the labor dispute as a greedy power struggle of millionaires (players) versus billionaires (owners). Owners, currently taking home $4.2 billion, have proclaimed they “take back our league and (expletive) do something about it,” according to Yahoo! Sports. Owners are upset that players are allotted $4.8 billion.

I encourage those who are able to stomach such a debate to make a more in-depth analysis. Consider that the average NFL career lasts fewer than four years. And 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or under severe financial distress within two years of retirement.

In a bold move, owners claimed they deserved an extra billion dollars and they went as far as proposing to extend the regular season from 16 games to 18. From a player’s perspective, not even Charlie Sheen is insane enough to agree to those terms.

As a Carolina football player, I’ve seen the rigors of a season. And in a 16-game NFL season, players already face considerable long-term physical health risks and cognitive damage.

Owners obviously do not sacrifice their health, but they do finance league operations and are entitled to their fair share of the revenue pie. However, imposing their clout on the players is unfair.

The issue of unjust player salaries is far from a new idea. Just ask one of the staunchest opponents of the current league revenue-sharing system, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.

Richardson, a former back-up NFL player, quit the NFL after being dissatisfied with his annual salary and corresponding raise. Richardson seems to have lost his perspective and even has publicly lamented player representatives for approaching him for “more money.” In politics, they call that a flip-flop.

Richardson’s Panthers are now valued at more than $1 billion, more than 400 percent of what he initially invested in the team in 1993. NFL teams in 2009 generated an average profit of $33 million.

Richardson claims the league’s current economic model cannot sustain itself and goes against basic business school principles.

Sorry Mr. Richardson, I have more faith in my Kenan-Flagler cohorts than that. Owners will continue to attempt to exploit players until their motives are exposed beyond the cheap rhetoric they feed the public.

Owners have tried to paint the players as villains, accusing them of dodging the collective bargaining process. A closer investigation reveals that owners had initially squirreled away $320 million for additional security and bargaining leverage in the case of a lockout.

In a lengthy battle that has already seen lawsuits, injunctions and political involvement, remember to be mindful of whose pitch you listen to as you form your own independent model as to how to divvy up $9 billion.

Sam Ellis is a sports columnist for the Daily Tar Heel. He is a senior econ and exercise and sports science major from Chapel Hill. Contact him at swellis@email.Unc.Edu.