stuckinthemuck
Footballguy
Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the National Football League players union, speaking in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt” airing this weekend, said a player lockout next season is a “near certainty” and it would cost the U.S. economy an estimated $5 billion in lost wages, taxes and other revenue if the entire season is canceled.
(This is not a legal transcript. Bloomberg LP cannot guarantee its accuracy.)
AL HUNT: We begin the show with the National Football League Players Association executive director, DeMaurice Smith, who joins us in our Washington studio. Thank you so much for being with us.
DEMAURICE SMITH: It’s a pleasure. Thank you.
HUNT: You’ve warned that there would be a huge economic impact in New York if the National Football League locks out the players for the next season. Do you have any sense of what -what nationally the economic loss would be to the country if -
SMITH: The - the magnitude of the loss would be at the very least about $160 million to $170 million per team city.
HUNT: Per team city? So that’s -
SMITH: Per team city.
HUNT: As much as $5 billion?
SMITH: Easily. That is a conservative estimate of the economic impact. And for every city, we’re talking not only fans who would obviously miss their football, but we have over 150,000 people who work in our stands, the support networks that service those stadiums. The economic impact is one that is not in the best interests of the country.
HUNT: Let me ask you this. You’re fighting for public opinion, but your members include people like Albert Haynesworth, who plays about every third defensive down for the Washington Redskins, makes $100 million bucks. There are people out there in Kokomo, Indiana, who are going to say, “Wait a minute. I’m going to worry about that?”
SMITH: Well, look, and we believe that the players of the National Football League are among the best athletes on the planet. The game has grown exponentially over the last 15 years. You’ve seen team values increase by 500 percent over 15 years. No one is going to say that the players of the National Football League don’t get rewarded handsomely for the things that they do.
But on the business side of this, the reality is, it is a sport that is driven by the best athletes in the world. Nobody is going to make an apology for that. But where we are right now in this lockout is, in a world where players have committed $3 billion to the construction, operation and upkeep of the last six stadiums alone -
HUNT: Right.
SMITH: - so not only do the players risk everything on the field, obviously, but the players of the National Football League have become economic investors in the business of football.
HUNT: So do you have superstars like Peyton Manning? Are they really going to be in your corner when push comes to shove?
SMITH: They’re already in our corner. I’m blessed to have guys not only like Peyton and Jeff Saturday, but players like Drew Brees. And all across the league, players have made a decision to stand up and fight not only for what they believe is an economically fair deal, but also fight for something that is much larger than that.
HUNT: Let me ask you this, though. Your guys have a limited time, three-and-a-half years average tenure in the NFL. The owners have a huge contract with television networks which they get whether the games are played or not. Don’t they have most of the leverage?
SMITH: Well, it depends on, obviously, what you think leverage is. I think that economically the players of the National Football League, we know they have an economic leverage over us. We know that those TV contracts that were negotiated even if the games aren’t played is a huge economic hammer that hangs over the players.
But there’s another one, as well. When I took this job, I went through some of the notes that Gene Upshaw had left. He was fond of one saying over and over: The players play for an extremely short period of time, but the owners play long every day.
HUNT: Right.
SMITH: Our owners own teams for decades, and our players play for about 3.5 years. But when it does come to leverage, about understanding the necessity of sacrifice, teamwork, our players believe that they are this game, that if this game is going to be played and if it is going to be played at a high level, that they are the ones who make this game fun for America, I believe that we have a tremendous amount of leverage.
HUNT: You have a $200 million lockout fund, I believe. If the worst comes, do you have any sense yet - how are you going to use that? Are you going to use it for stipends, for health insurance? And would your players qualify for unemployment compensation?
SMITH: We will use our lockout fund and every bit of leverage to maximize the interest of our players and our families. Right now, we know that about 1,900 players and their families will lose their health care in March if this lockout occurs. We have estimated about 300 expectant mothers in that period of time. We have kids who are awaiting heart transplants and a few who are on kidney dialysis.
Right now, the first and foremost on our minds is taking care of our families. After that, we’ve told the players to expect a lockout, prepare for it, and support not only your current teammates, but the people who played this game.
HUNT: The owners say you’ve got to get a smaller slice of their revenues because they’re hurting, that everything is down, and they don’t make the kind of profits they used to make. They haven’t showed you their books. Do you think they’re lying to you?
SMITH: We live in a world where it’s trust, but verify, to use an often-used phrase. The owners have told us that no team is losing money. The owners have told us that no team is facing economic peril. They haven’t even told us that teams are - have a smaller amount of profits this year and the past.
All the players have said - all we have said - is we want to get a deal done. We’d rather get a deal done quickly. We are looking at -
HUNT: Think you’ll get to see their books?
SMITH: I think that if they want a deal done by the end of the year, which is where I think we should be, I think there has to be a substantial increase in the amount of economic information that’s turned over.
Looking at the value destruction on the sponsorships, ticket renewals, club seat renewals, all of those things are things that will start to cost not only the players of the National Football League, but also the owners, and dearly will cost the fans.
HUNT: If this happens, will politics get involved? The conventional wisdom is, a Republican House would tend to side more with the owners and that maybe the White House wants to do anything to avoid any kind of an impasse. Do you have a sense of whether they have more political clout than you do?
SMITH: I don’t think - I don’t think they do. I think that the two things that become apparent when anyone looks at this picture, American football is the most popular sport. Our games outdrew the regular season games of -outgrew the World Series games this year.
But the second thing is also clear: Every team city looks to lose $150 million as we recover from the worst recession of our lives. It does seem to me that whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, whether you are a conservative or a liberal, at the end of time, you believe that $150 million out of those team cities that have already invested in football is not good for your citizens and not good for your constituents.
HUNT: Let me ask you just one question about what the union position is on all the severe injuries, concussions, the sad Jim McMahon stories. On the one hand, you call for more action; on the other hand, you criticize the league for penalizing those who engage in brutal - in brutal hits. Isn’t there a contradiction there?
SMITH: What we criticize is what we see as the duplicity. You cannot fine players in the name of safety on Sunday and on Monday cancel the players’ and their wives’ and their children’s health insurance. You can’t put your arms around taking severe action in the name of health when we know that right now players receive pain medications, an abundant amount of painkillers from medical personnel every year.
You can’t on one hand say that we are doing everything for health and safety, but right now, as we sit in Washington, D.C., the National Football League has sued over 300 players to prevent them from getting worker’s comp.
HUNT: OK.
SMITH: So what we believe that we need to get to is a world where this game is safe, not only for the players who play it today, but safe for the kids that we know who want to play it tomorrow.
HUNT: Let me ask you this. As of today, what would you say are the likely odds of a lockout next season?
SMITH: We have told our players to prepare for a lockout.
HUNT: You think it’s probable?
SMITH: I think it’s a near certainty.
HUNT: You do?
SMITH: All we can do is certainly hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We told our players that in March, in all likelihood, this lockout would be effectuated.
HUNT: Right.
SMITH: Unfortunately, the league has prepared for this since 2007. We’ve tried to respond to it since 2009.
HUNT: Mr. Smith, thank you so much for being with us.
Link
(This is not a legal transcript. Bloomberg LP cannot guarantee its accuracy.)
AL HUNT: We begin the show with the National Football League Players Association executive director, DeMaurice Smith, who joins us in our Washington studio. Thank you so much for being with us.
DEMAURICE SMITH: It’s a pleasure. Thank you.
HUNT: You’ve warned that there would be a huge economic impact in New York if the National Football League locks out the players for the next season. Do you have any sense of what -what nationally the economic loss would be to the country if -
SMITH: The - the magnitude of the loss would be at the very least about $160 million to $170 million per team city.
HUNT: Per team city? So that’s -
SMITH: Per team city.
HUNT: As much as $5 billion?
SMITH: Easily. That is a conservative estimate of the economic impact. And for every city, we’re talking not only fans who would obviously miss their football, but we have over 150,000 people who work in our stands, the support networks that service those stadiums. The economic impact is one that is not in the best interests of the country.
HUNT: Let me ask you this. You’re fighting for public opinion, but your members include people like Albert Haynesworth, who plays about every third defensive down for the Washington Redskins, makes $100 million bucks. There are people out there in Kokomo, Indiana, who are going to say, “Wait a minute. I’m going to worry about that?”
SMITH: Well, look, and we believe that the players of the National Football League are among the best athletes on the planet. The game has grown exponentially over the last 15 years. You’ve seen team values increase by 500 percent over 15 years. No one is going to say that the players of the National Football League don’t get rewarded handsomely for the things that they do.
But on the business side of this, the reality is, it is a sport that is driven by the best athletes in the world. Nobody is going to make an apology for that. But where we are right now in this lockout is, in a world where players have committed $3 billion to the construction, operation and upkeep of the last six stadiums alone -
HUNT: Right.
SMITH: - so not only do the players risk everything on the field, obviously, but the players of the National Football League have become economic investors in the business of football.
HUNT: So do you have superstars like Peyton Manning? Are they really going to be in your corner when push comes to shove?
SMITH: They’re already in our corner. I’m blessed to have guys not only like Peyton and Jeff Saturday, but players like Drew Brees. And all across the league, players have made a decision to stand up and fight not only for what they believe is an economically fair deal, but also fight for something that is much larger than that.
HUNT: Let me ask you this, though. Your guys have a limited time, three-and-a-half years average tenure in the NFL. The owners have a huge contract with television networks which they get whether the games are played or not. Don’t they have most of the leverage?
SMITH: Well, it depends on, obviously, what you think leverage is. I think that economically the players of the National Football League, we know they have an economic leverage over us. We know that those TV contracts that were negotiated even if the games aren’t played is a huge economic hammer that hangs over the players.
But there’s another one, as well. When I took this job, I went through some of the notes that Gene Upshaw had left. He was fond of one saying over and over: The players play for an extremely short period of time, but the owners play long every day.
HUNT: Right.
SMITH: Our owners own teams for decades, and our players play for about 3.5 years. But when it does come to leverage, about understanding the necessity of sacrifice, teamwork, our players believe that they are this game, that if this game is going to be played and if it is going to be played at a high level, that they are the ones who make this game fun for America, I believe that we have a tremendous amount of leverage.
HUNT: You have a $200 million lockout fund, I believe. If the worst comes, do you have any sense yet - how are you going to use that? Are you going to use it for stipends, for health insurance? And would your players qualify for unemployment compensation?
SMITH: We will use our lockout fund and every bit of leverage to maximize the interest of our players and our families. Right now, we know that about 1,900 players and their families will lose their health care in March if this lockout occurs. We have estimated about 300 expectant mothers in that period of time. We have kids who are awaiting heart transplants and a few who are on kidney dialysis.
Right now, the first and foremost on our minds is taking care of our families. After that, we’ve told the players to expect a lockout, prepare for it, and support not only your current teammates, but the people who played this game.
HUNT: The owners say you’ve got to get a smaller slice of their revenues because they’re hurting, that everything is down, and they don’t make the kind of profits they used to make. They haven’t showed you their books. Do you think they’re lying to you?
SMITH: We live in a world where it’s trust, but verify, to use an often-used phrase. The owners have told us that no team is losing money. The owners have told us that no team is facing economic peril. They haven’t even told us that teams are - have a smaller amount of profits this year and the past.
All the players have said - all we have said - is we want to get a deal done. We’d rather get a deal done quickly. We are looking at -
HUNT: Think you’ll get to see their books?
SMITH: I think that if they want a deal done by the end of the year, which is where I think we should be, I think there has to be a substantial increase in the amount of economic information that’s turned over.
Looking at the value destruction on the sponsorships, ticket renewals, club seat renewals, all of those things are things that will start to cost not only the players of the National Football League, but also the owners, and dearly will cost the fans.
HUNT: If this happens, will politics get involved? The conventional wisdom is, a Republican House would tend to side more with the owners and that maybe the White House wants to do anything to avoid any kind of an impasse. Do you have a sense of whether they have more political clout than you do?
SMITH: I don’t think - I don’t think they do. I think that the two things that become apparent when anyone looks at this picture, American football is the most popular sport. Our games outdrew the regular season games of -outgrew the World Series games this year.
But the second thing is also clear: Every team city looks to lose $150 million as we recover from the worst recession of our lives. It does seem to me that whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, whether you are a conservative or a liberal, at the end of time, you believe that $150 million out of those team cities that have already invested in football is not good for your citizens and not good for your constituents.
HUNT: Let me ask you just one question about what the union position is on all the severe injuries, concussions, the sad Jim McMahon stories. On the one hand, you call for more action; on the other hand, you criticize the league for penalizing those who engage in brutal - in brutal hits. Isn’t there a contradiction there?
SMITH: What we criticize is what we see as the duplicity. You cannot fine players in the name of safety on Sunday and on Monday cancel the players’ and their wives’ and their children’s health insurance. You can’t put your arms around taking severe action in the name of health when we know that right now players receive pain medications, an abundant amount of painkillers from medical personnel every year.
You can’t on one hand say that we are doing everything for health and safety, but right now, as we sit in Washington, D.C., the National Football League has sued over 300 players to prevent them from getting worker’s comp.
HUNT: OK.
SMITH: So what we believe that we need to get to is a world where this game is safe, not only for the players who play it today, but safe for the kids that we know who want to play it tomorrow.
HUNT: Let me ask you this. As of today, what would you say are the likely odds of a lockout next season?
SMITH: We have told our players to prepare for a lockout.
HUNT: You think it’s probable?
SMITH: I think it’s a near certainty.
HUNT: You do?
SMITH: All we can do is certainly hope for the best, prepare for the worst. We told our players that in March, in all likelihood, this lockout would be effectuated.
HUNT: Right.
SMITH: Unfortunately, the league has prepared for this since 2007. We’ve tried to respond to it since 2009.
HUNT: Mr. Smith, thank you so much for being with us.
Link
I'm not anti-union (at least not as much as I used to be), but I always find it amazing to hear the rhetoric coming out of pro-union camps about all those greedy owners who have it coming to them and need to pay their workers a fair wage. As if it is somehow evening the score...and redistributing a bit of wealth from the "fat-cats" to the poor and middle class.The above posting is 100% correct. Whether it is the NFL owners, my business, ANY business, if said business sees operating costs increase "X" percent, one of two things will generally happen:1. Prices of goods and services sold will also increase by "X" percent...with an additional "hassle tax" of "Y" put on top for the company's extra time/troubles.2. Layoffs will occur with the line workers and/or a few middle management positions will be eliminated. So much for punishing the "fat-cats." At best, everyone out there who is consuming said goods and services will see their out-of-pocket costs increase. At worst, more lower/middle class workers will be hitting the unemployment lines...with the remaining workers either absorbing additional responsibilities at the same pay grade or those former American jobs being moved off-shore.Fans are going to take it in the ### no matter what the owners and the NFLPA does. The only way to avoid it? The step no fan wants to take. Stop purchasing tickets to the game, stop buying NFL merchandise, etc.
