We officially have a work stoppage in the National Football League.
After the players association decertified on Friday afternoon, the owners have officially locked out the players as of midnight on Friday.
It is the NFL’s first work stoppage since 1987 and it puts the 2011 season in jeopardy.
The league said in a statement Saturday it was “taking the difficult but necessary step of exercising its right under federal labor low to impose a lockout of the union.”
Nothing NFL-related can occur during a work stoppage. // Photo: BroncosNationNow.com
Despite two extensions to the collective bargaining agreement during 16 days of talks overseen by a federal mediator — following months of stop-and-start negotiating — the sides could not agree on a new deal.
The league’s statement Saturday called the NFL Players Association’s decertification a “sham” and said the players’ court action is “built on the indisputably false premise that the NFLPA has stopped being a union and will merely delay the process of reaching an agreement.”
The statement told fans: “We know that you want football. You will have football. This will be resolved.”
As was clear all along, the dispute came down to money. In the end, it appeared the sides were about $185 million apart on how much owners should get up front each season for certain operating expenses before splitting the rest of the revenues with players — a far cry from the $1 billion that separated the sides for months.
But the union refused to budge any further without getting detailed financial information for each team.
There is no player movement until a resolution occurs.
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