Mewelde Moore #21 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs the ball against Pat Lee #22 of the Green Bay Packers during Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium on February 6, 2011 in Arlington, Texas. Photographer: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Negotiators for National Football League owners and players are close to a deal on how to divide a projected $9.3 billion in revenue, two weeks before training camps are scheduled to open, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.
The sides have worked on an agreement that may give players just less than half of the league’s revenue, according to the people. Players got about 60 percent under the old agreement, after owners deducted $1 billion for such costs as the NFL Network.
Completing a new collective bargaining agreement next week may help the U.S.’s most popular sport avoid missing one or more rounds of preseason games, which NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says are worth about $200 million in revenue each week. Owners locked out players four months ago.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, rejoined negotiations this week after lawyers for both sides worked on language for a new deal, said the people, who were granted anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the talks.
Aiello and players association spokesman Carl Francis declined to comment on what was being discussed in New York.
The league and union are focusing on the chief economic issues before addressing topics such as health care and terms of free agency, the people said.
NFL owners in March locked out players, who sued in federal court claiming wage-fixing and antitrust violations. Today, a federal appeals court upheld the lockout, saying a lower court had erred in blocking the action.
The dispute came after a season that produced record television ratings, drawing a total of 207.7 million viewers, according to Neilsen Co. data. It was capped by the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers, which attracted the largest U.S. television audience in history.
Jeff Pash, the NFL’s chief negotiator, said after a league meeting outside Chicago last month that reopening for business will require making sure legal documents are fully drafted and approved, then ratified by both sides. Owners and players will also have to seek approval from “various courts” to deal with litigation.
Pash said he didn’t know how long that may take. Once the two sides reach a handshake agreement, both owners and players will want to “move as quickly as we could,” he said.
Training camps for the St. Louis Rams and Chicago Bears are scheduled to open July 22, with the teams slated to play the first preseason game on Aug. 7 in Canton, Ohio.
To contact the reporter on this story: Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net.
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