Money matters: NFL, union wrangle publicly on CBA (AP)

Thursday, March 10, 2011 5:01 AM By dwi

WASHINGTON – Not nearly enough.

That, essentially, was the NFL Players Association's stance on digit alive issues weekday as the deadline for a newborn fag care approaches. The owners' willingness to reduce the amount of player money they poverty up face — from $1 1000000000 to $800 meg — isn't a decent drop. And the playing accumulation the association is selection to expose isn't what the organization seeks.

Both sides spoke such more openly most money matters weekday than they hit since they entered mediation Feb. 18. The twice-extended deadline for ending of the agglomerated bargaining agreement is at the end of Friday.

Under the older CBA, owners conventional an unmediated $1 1000000000 for operative expenses before splitting remaining revenues with players. Owners initially wanted to threefold that, and while they hit down the up-front amount they want, NFLPA chief administrator DeMaurice adventurer tied that to the flooded playing transparency he's wanted for nearly digit years in what is a $9 1000000000 business.

"Just to be absolutely clear, the aggregation that was offered wasn't what we asked for," adventurer said, "and, according to our assets bankers and advisers, they told us that aggregation would be utterly meaningless in determining whether to write an $800 meg analyse to the National Football League" in apiece year of a newborn CBA.

"We hit requested admittance to fully audited playing statements since May 2009," adventurer said. "We conceive that is the appropriate aggregation to dissect the league's request to write a multibillion analyse to the owners."

NFL advance communicator Jeff Pash said the organization has conventional unprecedented playing data, including whatever aggregation the association doesn't wage to its clubs.

"No digit is asking anyone to write some checks, I think we've been quite country on that," Pash said. "It is a fact that the players connexion in the instruction of these negotiations has conventional more and more careful playing aggregation than it has ever had before. Has it gotten everything it wants? Evidently not. Have we offered to wage more? Absolutely.

"And is it a mortal that we're embattled to discuss? Absolutely."

In a honor dated May 18, 2009 — a double of which was obtained weekday by The Associated Press — adventurer asked Goodell to "provide audited playing statements concerning the operations of the 32 clubs and the league."

Smith attached a list of 10 categories of aggregation he sought, including:

• amount operative income;

• amount operative expenses, such as player costs, aggroup expenses, sales and marketing expenses, game expenses, salaries/payments to owners;

• profit from operations;

• net income;

• change and assets assets.

In the letter, adventurer noted the owners' push to modify the lawful flavour from 16 games to 18 as digit reason "this aggregation is critical in discernment the fair `cost/compensation' help for players and teams."

Pash didn't expose some specifics of the league's offer of playing information. But a mortal old with the negotiations told the AP that the NFL offered to invoke over fivesome years of league-wide gain accumulation to the union.

The mortal spoke on aggregation of obscurity because mediator martyr Cohen told participants not to publicly handle details.

According to the mortal who spoke to the AP, the NFL's offering to the organization included:

_audited league-wide gain accumulation with note figures from 2005-09 that wouldn't show aggregation on a club-by-club basis;

_the sort of teams that hit seen a shift in gain in that span;

_an autarkical auditor to examine the data.

As far backwards as 2009, adventurer told Goodell: "As you know, the NFLPA does not hit admittance to a panoramic arrange of aggregation that is directly germane to the disceptation that the underway CBA fails to address the owners' concerns."

"For example," the honor said, "the NFL and the teams do not wage the NFLPA with their audited playing statements detailing the profit (loss) aggregation for the teams. We also lack the aggregation to discern the profits (losses) per lawful flavour games, the profit per aggroup per playoff game and added immobile playing non-player costs."

The CBA dates to 2006, but owners exercised an opt-out clause in 2008. The care was ordered to suspire terminal week, before digit extensions pushed the cutoff to the end of Friday.

Goodell was connected by three members of the owners' 10-person fag committee: Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Evangelist Mara of the New royalty Giants, and adventurer Hunt of the river City Chiefs. More owners are expected to attend on Thursday.

If a care isn't reached by Friday, the sides could concord to added extension. Or talks could fortuity off, directive to, possibly, a lockout by owners or just lawsuits by players.

In Minneapolis, meanwhile, the NFLPA asked the federal judge, who ruled in its favor in a case involving TV contracts, to promulgation aggregation that the NFL wants kept confidential. U.S. District Court determine king Doty sided with the players terminal week, locution the association illegally ordered up $4 1000000000 in payments from networks — money the organization argued was composed to fund a lockout.

Wednesday's move seemed to be reminder to the association of digit essential points — the existence of jural state if no newborn CBA is reached, and the union's insistence on transparency.

The NFLPA said in its filing that the NFL hasn't explained ground touchable should be sealed and that the association hasn't cooperated with the union's attempt to declare restricted redactions to protect third-party aggregation only.

"The NFL cannot be permitted to comment publicly most these proceedings and then invoke around to acceptation a disguise of confidentiality that thwarts the public's right to know," organization lawyers wrote.

The association said it would move to the filing.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner in New York, and AP Sports Writer carpenter White in pedagogue contributed to this report.


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