What the NFL and its Players Do Not Know about Negotiations
I have been following the negotiations between the NFL and its players. The negotiations have followed a traditional script of waiting until the last minute to present your best offer in the hopes of getting a deal done to avoid any disruption in the season. While the season is not yet in jeopardy (which deadline I believe is in late August), the negotiations appear to have disintegrated based upon the lack of trust between the parties.
The players believed the owners wanted to lock them out for the past few years while the owners believed that the players wanted to decertify and take their chances in court. With the lack of trust, nothing anyone said or did was believed by the other party. All offers and concessions were viewed with weary eyes. The NFL offer to provide financial statement in the last few days was summarily rejected as too little to late.
So how did the the situation devolve to this point? I think that one of the core reasons was the change of people leading the negotiations. Previously, the decision makers (Gene Upshaw and Paul Tagliabue) had a strong and trusted relationship that survived many rounds of negotiation. You can say that some times one side bested the other and you would probably be right but they could work together and strike a deal when it mattered.
Now, it appears that the decision makers are less concerned about working with each other but rather in only striking the best deal to take the last nickel off of the table. For an ongoing partnership, this may spell trouble. If one side feels taken advantage of then the the likelihood of ongoing success will be greatly diminished. So I hope that the parties can develop a trusting relationship so they can find common ground. Does it make sense to risk $9 billion in revenue for a few hundred million dollars.
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