NFL lockout talks collapse, team owners face antitrust suit

NFL Lockout Talks Collapse

The NFL lockout inched closer to reality as the players and team owners failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement to save the 2011 season.

The NFL Players Association decertified as a union and said that it will become a professional trade association. That allowed the players to file an antitrust suit against the league and let the court decide the future of the NFL.

The complaint reads, "The NFL has a long history of violating federal antitrust law in an effort to minimize its labor costs."

Among the plaintiffs of the antitrust suit were the Indianapolis Colts' Peyton Manning and the New England Patriots' Tom Brady. The players accuse the owners of colluding to force an NFL lockout.

"The owners' collective purpose in imposing the 'lockout' is to force the non-unionized NFL players to agree to the massive wage reductions and anticompetitive restrictions, which the NFL defendants are seeking from the players," the filing stated.

Team owners and the players union were at odds over the sharing of the league's nine billion revenue per year. The union said financial documents were withheld from them while owners said the union intended to go to court all this time.

Other unresolved issues were health care coverage for players and a salary cap among rookies. The extended deadline for the labor agreement expired at midnight yesterday but the owners have yet to lockout the players.

Federal mediator George H. Cohen failed to break the impasse but said the federal mediation service is prepared to get the two sides back into the negotiating table to prevent an NFL lockout.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Saturday March 12 2011, 5:19 AM EST. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0