CFL labour dispute hits calm after storm
Kirk Penton, Winnipeg Sun May 24, 2014
We have reached the calm after the storm in the CFL labour talks.
It's the point that occurs during most collective bargaining agreement negotiations where there is one day of news releases, strong talk and hurt feelings, and then nothing for a few days afterwards. There is still plenty of time for an agreement to be reached and for training camps to begin on time, but it looks like the players are going to make the owners sweat a bit.
Both sides have something to give, and now fans will sit back and wait for them to meet somewhere in the middle.
There was a telling conversation on Winnipeg radio Friday night, when B.C. Lions running back Andrew Harris told CJOB's Jim Toth that the players are asking for "a bit too much." Harris was obviously admonished for his statement -- he was even hearing it from his own teammates -- because on Saturday he wrote the following on his Twitter account: "My apologies to fellow @CFLPA members. Lesson learned when putting the heart of one ahead of business for all. #united."
If that's how one veteran Canadian CFLer feels, how do you think other players with weaker ties to the league and to the country are going to feel after a few pay cheques don't come in?
A football player's career lasts only so long and it's difficult to see the players standing strong as a group for an extended period of time. That's why you can count on there being football at some point this summer, even if it is delayed by a few weeks.
Not only will players get the itch to do what they train six months of the year to do, but owners like David Braley and Bob Young have poured millions into the CFL. Many say if it weren't for Braley there might not be a league today. Since most of the league's owners have the financial wherewithal to outlast the players, a few more million in losses isn't going to cause them to give in to the players. That's what people who have been in the CFL for years are saying behind the scenes, anyway. There's no way the players are going to be able to topple the deep-pocketed owners over the long haul.
As much as the players deserve more money -- they do, and what the league is offering would give them that -- the owners who have helped keep the league afloat should be rewarded for their patience. Some might view that as the rich getting richer, but no one is getting rich in the CFL. It's no secret Toronto and Hamilton lose money year after year.
Teams are building new and better stadiums for their players, which costs the franchises a varying degree of cash due to public funding, and attendance figures aren't exactly skyrocketing.
Montreal doesn't sell out anymore. Toronto still attracts family and friends. Hamilton hasn't been a big draw for years. Winnipeg couldn't sell out its brand new stadium after the 2013 home opener and season-ticket sales are down big time this year. Calgary does well only when the Roughriders are in town. Edmonton's attendance took a big dip last year. And B.C. wasn't exactly packing them in, either. The Roughriders, of course, are the exception to the rule.
That's looking at the situation from a glass-half-empty approach, but it's something to consider. When commissioner Mark Cohon says every November that the league is doing well, he's still speaking relatively.
The owners told the players they would revisit revenue sharing when they gave it up during the 2010 negotiations, but so far during these talks it has been a non-starter. Therefore, the owners should throw the players a bone and increase the cap by more than the $50,000 they're offering after the first year of the deal. The $400,000 hike off the hop is a good one, but it should be bigger after that. The owners should also put it in writing that revenue sharing will be a part of the next CBA in one form or another.
The players, meanwhile, should allow the league to continue to grow for a while. Let's see what the revenues are during the new TSN deal. Enjoy a serious bump in the salary cap and fewer practices with pads, and then if the league continues to flourish you will get your revenue sharing back in four years.
The solution seems painfully obvious. Now that the barbs have been thrown and the terms have made public, all that's left to do is get a deal done.
Get back to the table.
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