Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
.
Fans don’t matter in sports
Monday, 16 May 2011
BY EVAN WEINER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
.
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
.
And so the National Football League lockout has become a version of the People’s Court. The good guys, the National Football League Players Association, are fighting for workers’ rights and are begging “fans” to help them lift the lockout. The owners, the bad guys, want to take away the players ability to make truckloads of money and are threatening their long term health care. Wait, the players have done such a great job in past collective bargaining agreements that former players lose health benefits five years after their playing careers are done and only if a player has three years in the league.
.
The “People’s Court” is now playing in Minneapolis, Minnesota where United States District Judge David Doty is figuring out of the owners owe the players money over how the league managed to negotiate TV contracts to protect that side if in the event of a 2011 lockout. The players are seeking $707 million in damages. The fans will get ZERO if Judge Doty gives the players a monetary award even through a good chunk of that TV money comes from the cable TV subscriber-based ESPN and the satellite pay service DirecTV. In fact a good many people who never watch an NFL game on either ESPN or DirecTV are subsidizing the billions of dollars that ESPN and DirecTV pays the NFL.
.
The chances are that Judge David Doty will not address relief for subscribers are great. Fans are not a part of the lockout equation. Cable TV subscribers never received a rebate in 1994 and 1995 when Major League Baseball shutdown the 1994 season and the National Hockey League’s lockout did not end until January leaving cable TV subscribers without a product from mid-September 1994 through January 1995. An awful lot of teams had local cable TV deals in 1994 and 1995 and subscribers were playing for something that they didn’t get. Programming in terms of games which they were charged for. In 1998-99, the National Basketball Association locked out the league players for about 30 games. Not one cable TV subscriber received a penny back for missed games. Interestingly enough the owner of the Golden State Warriors, Chris Cohan, tried to stiff the Oakland Alameda Coliseum Authority and not pay rent at the Oakland Arena during the NBA lockout.
. continue reading »
|
Posted by
Evan Weiner |
Categories:
brain,
CBA,
Dave Pear,
DeMaurice Smith,
dementia,
disability,
Evan Weiner,
football,
News,
NFL,
NFLPA,
RobertinSeattle,
Roger Goodell | Tagged:
Andrew Cuomo,
Bobby Jindal,
CBA,
CBS,
Chris Christie,
Chris Cohan,
collective bargaining agreement,
Dallas Cowboys,
Dave Pear,
DirecTV,
Disney's ABC,
Do No Evil,
Eight Court of Appeals,
ESPN,
Evan Weiner,
football,
FOX,
Golden State Warriors,
Jan Brewer,
Jerry and Stephen Jones,
Jerry Brown,
Jim Irsay,
Judge David Doty,
Lamar Smith,
Mark Dayton,
Minneapolis,
Minnesota Vikings,
MLB,
Money Now,
NBC,
NFL,
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell,
NFLPA,
NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith,
NHL,
Oakland Alameda Coliseum Authority,
Oakland Arena,
People's Court,
Rick Perry,
Rick Scott,
Rick Snyder,
RobertinSeattle,
Rupert Murdoch,
Scott Walker,
Sumner Redstone,
Tom Corbett |
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
.
Covenant between fans and sports is a facade
Thursday, 12 May 2011
BY EVAN WEINER
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
.
NFL Smoke & Mirrors
continue reading »
|
Posted by
Evan Weiner |
Categories:
Dave Pear,
Evan Weiner,
football,
Guest Commentary,
News,
NFL,
NFLPA,
RobertinSeattle | Tagged:
Atlanta Falcons,
Baltimore Colts,
Clyde Werner,
Dave Pear,
Detroit Lions,
Do No Evil,
Evan Weiner,
football,
Gail Cogdill,
Jerry Jones,
Johnny Unitas,
Major League Baseball,
Milt Plum,
Minnesota Vikings,
MLB,
National Football League,
NBA,
NBA Commissioner David Stern,
NFL,
NFLPA,
NHL,
President Theodore Roosevelt,
RobertinSeattle,
Sy Syms,
the National Basketball Association,
the National Hockey League,
Zygi Wilf |
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
Sports owners are entitled to lion’s share of stadium revenues – and here’s why
continue reading »
|
Posted by
Evan Weiner |
Categories:
Dave Pear,
Evan Weiner,
football,
Independent Football Veterans Conference,
News,
NFL,
NFLPA | Tagged:
1986 Tax Reform Act,
Art Modell,
Arthur Blank,
Atlanta Falcons,
Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan,
Bill Bidwill,
brain,
brain injuries,
Canadian Football League,
CBA,
Cincinnati Bengals,
collective bargaining agreement,
Concussions,
Dave Pear,
disability,
Disability Benefits,
Do No Evil,
Evan Weiner,
football,
free agency,
Gene Upshaw,
Georgia Dome,
Georgia Frontiere,
Hurricane Katrina,
Independent Football Veterans Conference,
John Rowland,
Kingdome,
Lambeau Field,
Major League Baseball,
Medicare,
MLB,
National Hockey League,
National Labor Relations Board,
News,
NFL,
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell,
NFLPA,
NHL,
pension,
RobertinSeattle,
Ronald Reagan,
Soldier Field,
Washington Post,
William Clay Ford |
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
THE BUSINESS AND POLITICS OF SPORTS
Are sports fans resilient or suckers?
continue reading »
|
Posted by
Evan Weiner |
Categories:
CBA,
Dave Pear,
disability,
Evan Weiner,
football,
history,
Independent Football Veterans,
Independent Football Veterans Conference,
News,
NFL,
NFLPA,
RobertinSeattle,
TBI | Tagged:
1984 Cable TV Act,
Air Canada,
Bernard Madoff,
Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Players Retirement Plan,
Bill Veeck,
Bob Probert,
Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy,
brain injuries,
Brooklyn Dodgers,
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,
Clayton Bennett,
Concussions,
CTE,
Dave Duerson,
Dave Pear,
Do No Evil,
Evan Weiner,
football,
football suckers,
George Shinn,
Goldwater Institute,
Irving Picard,
Kevin Johnson,
Madison Square Garden,
Maloof brothers,
March Madness,
Max Pacioretty,
MLB,
Montreal Canadiens,
NBA,
NBA Commissioner David Stern,
New Jersey Newsroom,
New York Mets,
New York Yankees,
NFL,
NFLPA,
NHL,
Phoenix Coyotes,
Quebec Premier Jean Charest,
Randy Kendrick,
RobertinSeattle,
Sacramento Kings,
Seattle SuperSonics,
St Louis Browns,
Super Bowl,
Via Rail,
Walter O’Malley,
Wilpon family,
Zdeno Chara |
Posted with the express consent of Evan Weiner:
By Evan Weiner
continue reading »
|
Posted by
Evan Weiner |
Categories:
88 Plan,
Alzheimer's,
brain,
Concussions,
Dave Pear,
dementia,
disability,
Evan Weiner,
football,
News,
NFL,
NFLPA,
RobertinSeattle | Tagged:
88 Plan,
ABC,
AFL,
American Basketball League,
American Football League,
antirust exemption,
Baltimore Terrapins,
brain injuries,
Branch Rickey,
CBA,
Concussions,
Continental Baseball League,
Continental League,
Dave Pear,
David Sarnoff,
Dementia,
Do No Evil,
Evan Weiner,
Healthcare,
John Mackey,
Lamar Smith,
Lyndon B Johnson,
Medicare,
Mel Owens,
MLB,
National Basketball Association,
National Hockey League,
NBA,
NFL,
NFLPA,
Not For Long,
Pete Rozelle,
RobertinSeattle,
Social Security disability,
Social Security Disability Insurance,
Sports Broadcast Act of 1961,
William Paley |
A new study to be released this Friday will reveal some very surprising numbers and statistics in comparing major global sports and professional athletes. While American football is unquestionably the most lucrative professional team sport on earth, most people – especially football fans – will be completely shocked to realize that football doesn’t even place in the Top 10 for salaries. Who’s Number 1? MLB’s New York Yankees is the top team with an average annual salary of $7 million while the NBA is the richest league (!). The NFL is among the cheapest, ranking below cricket!
.
continue reading »
|
Posted by
RobertinSeattle |
Categories:
News,
Robert's Post | Tagged:
basketball,
cricket,
Dave Pear,
Do No Evil,
football,
IPL,
MLB,
NBA,
NFL,
Premier League,
Real Madrid,
RobertinSeattle,
soccer,
SportingIntelligence,
sports salaries |
More keeps coming out on the touchy-feely meetings that Commissioner Goodell has been conducting with the “Alliance” in league cities across the country. The first meeting held in Dallas ended with Disability Attorney being invited – and then uninvited – by John Wooten (read about that HERE) and as revealed in a series of interesting e-mails that followed the meeting (read about that HERE). Then a dull second meeting in Chicago and a more interesting one last week in Baltimore. The spouses of several players with dementia confronted the Commissioner outside of the meeting room about being denied a voice in the process. And then the New York Times backed it up with the revelation that it was the Alliance who decided to close the meetings to everyone except retired players (read about that HERE and HERE).
Behind the scenes, there’s been a flurry of e-mails and phone calls between the retired players and some members of the “Alliance,” discussing and rationalizing the secret decision to keep the meetings closed. And lots and lots of backpedaling and finger-pointing. We’ve got one interesting exchange that came from Alliance member John Wooten trying once again to explain his way out of another ridiculous situation. Tony Davis’ response is first and Wooten’s e-mail follows at the end. Tony is expressing an opinion that the majority of retired players all seem to share. So why weren’t the other players even consulted before the Big Brother Alliance decided for them?
continue reading »
|
Posted by
RobertinSeattle |
Categories:
Guest Commentary,
Tony Davis | Tagged:
Cincinnati Bengals,
Dave Pear,
disability,
Do No Evil,
Gene Upshaw,
Harry Carson,
John Wooten,
MLB,
New York Times,
NFL,
NFL Alliance,
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell,
NFLPA,
Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Tony Davis |
And so the National Football League lockout has become a version of the People’s Court. The good guys, the National Football League Players Association, are fighting for workers’ rights and are begging “fans” to help them lift the lockout. The owners, the bad guys, want to take away the players ability to make truckloads of money and are threatening their long term health care. Wait, the players have done such a great job in past collective bargaining agreements that former players lose health benefits five years after their playing careers are done and only if a player has three years in the league.