Why does the NFL players union suck at protecting its players?

[PokerFink]

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Nonfootball income is subject partial revenue sharing. Much of the nonfootball revenue is excluded in the cap calculations.

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What is nonfootball income?

[woodguy]

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What is nonfootball income?

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Depending on the deal it can be concession income, parking income, some merchandise income etc.....which are all huge $$$.

[PokerFink]

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concession income, parking income, some merchandise income etc

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Ok I was under the impression that all of that stuff was (atleast partially) shared via the revenue sharing system, and the shared revenue goes into the cap. But I could be wrong.

[woodguy]

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Ok I was under the impression that all of that stuff was (atleast partially) shared via the revenue sharing system, and the shared revenue goes into the cap. But I could be wrong.

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I don't know the particulars of the NFL deal but I know in the NHL most teams have control of the facility (or the entity that controls of the facility has some or all ownership of the team) Lots of these teams do not account for concessions or parking at the games under "NHL income", but under "facility income" and keep that revenue away from the team.

That revenue, along with other revenue from renting out the facility to rock shows, trade shows etc, can be so lucrative that some organizations applied for NHL franchises in the 90's with the expressed purpose of gaining control of a facility, which they didn't have to finance, to realize these revenues.

I'm not sure if the NFL works the same, but there are lots of ways of hiding "other revenues" which do have a direct link to ownership of a team.

[talentdeficit]

if the nfl locked out the player's union, it would only take a few years for the league to recover. the standard of play would drop a little, but player turnover is so high and there are so many college football programs turning out competent talent that most people wouldn't really notice much of a difference in two to four years. in five to seven years there'd be very few nflpa players the league would actually miss.

if mlb, the nba or the nhl locked out their player's unions, it would take a decade, minimum, to replace the lost talent. even then there'd be a substantial number of players locked out that the leagues would miss.

[tolbiny]

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Baseball has guaranteed $$$.
NBA has guaranteed $$$

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Its not like these leagues go these things for free. A baseball player has to play for what, six years before he is a free agent? He has to wait 3 years for arbitration prior to which he makes essentially the league minimum. Basketball players' salaries are held in check by league maximum contracts and rules where the team that drafted you can offer more than other teams making it harder to select the team you play for.