Thursday Night Football Could Headline Next NFL Labor Dispute
By Erik Lambert
It’s becoming clearer by the day that an NFL labor dispute is practically inevitable when the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2020.
One might say the league and the players are fighting a cold war of sorts already. Everything is being argued over from the amount of power held by Commissioner Roger Goodell to practice schedule, social issues and so on. One of the matters that is fast becoming a sore spot though is whether or not the league should be playing Thursday Night Football.
Another week, another superstar player going down for the season with injury. Richard Sherman ruptured his Achilles tendon in the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the Arizona Cardinals. No primetime game has delivered more injuries than this one and its been true for years. Nevermind the fact that on average most of the games are unwatchable from a competitive standpoint. It’s a bad product that is making the league worse by sacrifice its best players.
TNF was never necessary to NFL success. It’s all about money
There is also the belief that the game is actually doing more harm than good. People felt Sunday and Monday games were more than enough to satisfy their football itch. Having another game to watch on Thursday feels out of place and some argue is over-saturating the week with too much. The fact it’s generally a bad game when played only makes it worse.
The grumbling from players, agents and coaches is growing louder on the subject. Problem is the NFL itself won’t do anything. Why? There’s too much money at stake. Primetime football, even with declined ratings is still bringing in tons of revenue. So there isn’t much they can do to stop it. At least not for another three years. It’s almost certain to become a major battle ground when the NFL and NFLPA go to war over the next CBA.
Anybody who doesn’t think a lockout or strike will happen at this point is kidding themselves. It’s coming. The question is how long will it last and what points will create the most turmoil. This could be one of them.