N.F.L. Players Vote Yes on New 10-Year Labor Deal

The league and union may vote to delay the start of the new league year to give teams more time to prepare.

The vote, in which only a simple majority was needed to ratify the contract, comes after a tumultuous period for the N.F.L. Players Association, during which many of the league’s biggest stars publicly pushed against the deal because of the extra games and what they viewed as insufficient concessions by the owners. The margin of 60 votes, or 3 percent, reflected the level of discontent with key elements of the deal, most notably the expansion of the regular season.

Winning union approval of a successor to the current agreement, which was set to expire in March 2021, is a major victory for the owners, who have pushed hard to close a deal with the players so they can focus on negotiating the raft of broadcast rights contracts that expire in the coming years. More than half of the league’s revenue — around $8 billion a year — come from the sale of broadcast rights, and the next set of contracts was expected to produce a windfall for the league before the recent downturn in the stock market sent the shares of media companies tumbling. The economic outlook clouded by the coronavirus outbreak will cool the bidding for broadcast rights.

Roger Goodell, the N.F.L. commissioner, said in a statement after the results were announced that the agreement, which will run through the 2030 season, would “provide substantial benefits to all current and retired players, increase jobs, ensure continued progress on player safety and give our fans more and better football.”

In the agreement, the players will see an increase in the percentage of their share of overall revenue, to 48 percent, from about 47 percent now, with the possibility of an additional 0.8 percentage point increase based on the value of the new media contracts that the league signs. While each percentage point increase is worth an extra $150 million for the players per year, based on the N.F.L.’s current revenue, the 48 percent share that the players will receive is still well below the 53 percent they received through 2011.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/sports/football/nfl-cba-approved.html