National Football League club owners do not want a labor dispute to force a 2011 shutdown but are adamant that the current deal no longer works for them, commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday. Goodell spoke in the wake of comments by NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith about talks, including his declaration that the odds of a lockout by owners were “14” on a scale of one to 10. “I sure hope he's wrong. I hope it doesn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Goodell said. NFL owners voted in 2008 to opt out of the current deal and unless a new one is in place by the end of the month, the 2010 NFL season will feature no salary caps or minimums for clubs. Rather than continue to play under rules they claim are driving them to ruin, NFL owners would be expected to lock out players, a move taken by other US sports league owners in past labor disputes. Smith says the NFL has prepared for such a situation by signing television deals that will pay clubs even if games are not played, increasing their leverage in seeking an 18 percent reduction in the players' percentage of revenues. “The idea ownership would be anxious for a work stoppage is totally false. You don't make money by shutting down your business,” Goodell said. “I don't think anybody wants to see a work stoppage. There are no benefits to that. If it comes to anything like that, we've all failed.” In an NFL shutdown, both sides could alienate supporters, especially during tough economic times that have taken a toll on the incomes of some teams. “We will have an agreement. It's just a matter of when,” Goodell said. “Talking about work stoppages is not going to get us there.” Goodell said that $2.6 billion of $3.6 billion in total profit for 2006 went to players and claimed owners were $200 million worse off than in 2006 when the current labor deal began. “What it's important for them to understand is the system isn't working,” Goodell said. Asked why he would not give the union full ledger sheets with expenses to show their plight, something Smith stressed he needed to make a deal, Goodell said he was “all for transparency” and had given the union “a tremendous amount of economic data”. But he cited the NBA and National Hockey League shutting down even after management gave players a look at the books, saying: “Both those leagues went into lockouts.” When it came to next season, Smith had said he saw little hope of returning to a cap system if the 2010 campaign is played without salary limits. “I would hope he doesn't take things off the table that are good for the game,” Goodell said, noting other contract contingencies to try and maintain parity. “There are a lot of factors in there to keep the game competitive,” Goodell said. Goodell called the 18 percent shift owners seek “cost recognition” for the construction and upkeep on new stadiums such as one a Los Angeles group wants to build with hopes of luring a team back to the second-largest US market. He also said that no conversation has been had about what might be done for scheduled 2012 Super Bowl host Indianapolis should a lockout wipe out the entire 2011 season leading to that title game.
