National Football League: Negotiation Analysis

The National Football League has had its number of lockouts, the most recent and historically longest being in 2011. It lasted 132 days until an agreement was made between the players and owners. There are many aspects involved in reaching their agreement, however at the end of the day it comes down to money, $9 billion dollars annually to be exact. Back in 2006 the current agreement was set to expire but was extended by both the players and owners. In 2008 owners chose to opt out of the agreement through a unanimous vote. The past agreement was set to expire on March 3, 2011. This negotiation entailed many aspects and was a heartbreaker for most of the United States who depend on football every Sunday as part of their weekly ritual. …show more content…
It’s very difficult to decide on one side because both oppositions came out ahead and better off than before. Either way you look at it, the negotiation was met and agreed upon with a unanimous vote. Both sides financially will prosper with the future of the NFL and obtained the majority of their demands. The biggest gain for the players was an increase in player and team minimum salaries, improvements in both medical and other important benefits, along with not having an 18 game season making for a lighter workload. Now as for the needy owners, they were able to make an agreement that holds true for 10 years, rookie salaries have decreased to give veterans more pay for their time, a better bracket for salaries, and most of all a decrease in the percentage of revenues going to the players (Quinn, 2012). The NFL lockout even though it was frowned upon, was a necessity for the franchise as a whole to end issues on the table and move forward in the pursuit of bettering the league. When a large group of people such as the National Football League are involved in an integrative negotiation, one’s interests and personal position must be taken into consideration when forgoing a deal because it’s not only detrimental to the outcome but the overall future of the beloved game. Which in this situation, the deal and it’s long drawn out negotiation, not only benefited the owners, but also the players, and most of all giving the viewers at home back the American pigskin game they’ve grown accustomed too. At the end of the day, the NFL lockout was caused by the substantial amount of revenue acclaimed by the football league, but more importantly about the game. It was about preserving not only what was right but the well-being of the individuals in the franchise from the rookies coming in on up to the owners to continue to