Have you worked for a privately held employer?

[Fritz]

First, it is an ologopoly and not an example of free capitalism - the owners collude. Secondly, if the NFL can police players' private behavior - what these employees do on their own time - then why is it unreasonable to simply ask what the books look like? Is that somehow more "sacred" than an employee's personal life?

[Tony Oday]

You know what this means, right? HEALTHY CHOICE OPTIONS AT THE STADIUM. No more hot dogs, brats and burgers. Hello TOFU, and vegan options.

<sheesh>

BAHAHHA that is EXACTLY what I was thinking...dont forget no more beer...

[swede]

Well, once again when you cut to the chase, hit the endgame, and post-mortem the results of the new agreement the upshot is that football will no longer be free for me.

[gbgary]

all i've ever worked for are family-owned businesses.

I think one thing to keep in mind is that in order to keep owners involved and investing in their teams, the rate of return needs to be comparable to other business ventures (not necessarily sports). Otherwise you'll have owners who cut back on team spending to create that comparable cushion.

i don't know about that. making money is important to them but they look at these teams as toys...not their sole means of income.

[Tony Oday]

all i've ever worked for are family-owned businesses.



i don't know about that. making money is important to them but they look at these teams as toys...not their sole means of income.

It is still their businesses and should not have to open the books to these moronic players.

[sharpe1027]

The NFL owners go out of their way to make a public statement about their financial problems. The player's association calls their bluff and asks them to backup their claim. The players are not entitled to it, but asking for it is a counter to the owner's ploy.

[Tony Oday]

I say fire anyone that doesnt show up for camp...of course our guys will know that WE spend the proper amount on them

[Old School]

I think Duh Maurice is angling to be Obama's football czar when the Dear Leader nationalizes sports.

[ThunderDan]

I say fire anyone that doesnt show up for camp...of course our guys will know that WE spend the proper amount on them

Tony-

You do understand that the owners are going to lock the players out? The players will show up and THE OWNERS will turn them away FROM camp.

[ThunderDan]

Did you have any idea how profitable it was? I worked for a very large one at one time. Family owned, international business. Factory workers were unionized, large professional staff was not. Plants all over the world. We all had some idea about general numbers generated in the business, but they certainly never "opened their books" during salary discussions or union negotiations. We knew nothing about how profitable they really were. We could only guess.

Every employer is successful due to the skill & performance of its employees.
All employees are replaceable, even NFL players.

I understand why the NFLPA keeps harping on the "open your books" argument, it sounds good. But why is an NFL team any different than any other private employer?

Sorry NFLPA. Except for the publicly held Green Bay Packers, you are not entitled to any more detailed information about the private financial affairs of the teams than you currently have.

Yes, I have worked for and owned privately held businesses.

I have worked in mediation for a large manufacture in Wisconsin as part of the professional "accounting" team. The owners realized they "needed" the employees on their side to make the business more profitable. Even though the work force was unionized management opened their book and worked in a colabrative manner with the union. It was the best win/win deal I have been around (good high paying jobs stayed in WI instead of going to Mexico).

My personal opinion is that once all of the numbers are on the table both sides can come to a "fair" and profitable decision. Employees almost always feel as if owners/managment is taking advantage of them and most of the time that isn't the case.

[ThunderDan]

owners should be making more money, a lot more money imo

the players didn't shell out hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the team. the owners did

the players aren't on the hook for any expenses or losses that may come along, the owners are

if a team tanks the owners stand to lose tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of their invested money, the players just move on to the next team

i think most owners are big douchey asshole, but i have to side with them on this. they paid huge amounts of money for these teams as an investment. they took all the monetary risk, they should be the ones to reap the rewards

Red, when has an NFL owner sold his team for a loss of tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars?

[Fritz]

My employer makes sure that when he's held, it's private. So he's a privately held employer, I guess. At least nobody has any pictures of him being held in public.

[Joemailman]

It is still their businesses and should not have to open the books to these moronic players.

Maybe they should have to open their books to everybody seeing as how many of them are playing in stadiums that are at least partially publicly funded.

[swede]

My employer makes sure that when he's held, it's private. So he's a privately held employer, I guess. At least nobody has any pictures of him being held in public.

Let's hear it for Fritz, going there since 2006 so we don't have to.

[MJZiggy]

Maybe they should have to open their books to everybody seeing as how many of them are playing in stadiums that are at least partially publicly funded.

This is a good point. Too much of my money is going to make rich men richer. If they're gonna cry about money, let's see what they're crying about.