No what they need are teams, the union is gone and I am sure in most states there is no collective bargaining with non union employees so start the season. If the players want to play they show up, rookies from college more than likely NEED the cash so they would work for that and in the end actually get MORE money than if they graduated and took a job at say Google. The current players have the choice to not play for sure but then they have to pay off their debts with a job that their semi complete degrees will get them.