Amidst Global Pandemic, NFL Games will continue for the next 10 years

Coming off the heels of an unprecedented suspension of active sports leagues across America as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL owners and the NFL player association have agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement.  The new CBA is set to kick in after the 2020 NFL Season. After the owners voted to approve the proposed CBA back in February the time came for the players to vote one month later. The majority of players voted for the cba but only by a small margin, with 1,019 players (51.5%) voting for the cba and 959 players (48.5%) voting against the CBA.  

One of the major talking points of the CBA within the media is the increase of teams that make into the playoffs from 12 to 14 as well as extend the regular season from 16 games to 17 games. By including the expansion of the season and more teams added to the playoffs, the CBA also included a base salary increase for players on league minimum contracts.  As well the CBA includes securing a pension for players extending another 10 years which was one of the goals of the NFLPA when negotiating the new CBA.  

Many players who are popular among fans, including Russel Wilson and Josh Jacobs, were not happy with the new CBA and took to twitter to voice their displeasure. Although the new CBA may not be beneficial to star players like Russel Wilson, who is currently one of the highest paid players, it is meant to benefit the player base as a whole.  The NFLPA executive director, Demaurice Smith, posted an open letter to twitter addressing the new CBA following the announcement of its passing. He stated that this is a win for NFLPA and believes that the end result puts the player association in a better position than they were before. With such a small margin of majority voting in favour of the CBA as well as the disapproval from higher paid players one has to wonder if there will eventually be a renegotiation sometime in the future.  As it stands the CBA is set to kick in until the conclusion of the 2030 season.

References

Levenson, Eric. “NFL Players Narrowly Vote to Approve New Collective Bargaining Agreement.” CNN, Cable News Network, 15 Mar. 2020, http://www.cnn.com/2020/03/15/us/nfl-collective-bargaining-agreement/index.html.