Five months ago, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and I stood in the lobby of Upshaw Place, the NFLPA’s headquarters in downtown Washington. Smith had just come from one of the countless negotiating sessions with the NFL. Smith had sought me out after the chair of Sports Fans Coalition and I wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Smith asking that fans be represented in the negotiations. He praised the letter and said we had made some good points. (Goodell, the NFL’s Washington office, and the numerous public relations firms they have on retainer ignored our letter.)

I told Smith that what I’d really love to see is the end of the NFL’s blackout rule. The rule punishes fans who cannot afford to go to the games or are physically unable to go to the games and it’s unethical because fans have already paid for the stadiums. (Not to mention being totally counterproductive to building a fan base, particularly kids.)

“I see no reason why we can’t write that in [to a new collective bargaining agreement],” Smith told me. “There’s no need for it. I’ve seen the numbers from the television revenues.”

I left with a sense of optimism that at least one side in the ongoing NFL labor negotiations gave a damn about the fans.

Fast forward to mid-July, when the NFL and NFLPA are on the verge of reaching an agreement. Think that new agreement will include an end to the blackout rule?

Yeah, me neither.

So we’re left knowing that the NFL needlessly punishes fans with its blackout rule and that despite knowing this, the NFL Players Association is likely unwilling to fight for fans on the issue.

Certainly, including language eliminating the blackout rule in the new CBA would be a great public relations move for the NFL after putting its fans through nearly six months of a grueling lockout. And it would be an acknowledgement that fans and taxpayers have contributed greatly to make this game what it is. The public has contributed at least $6.5 billion on NFL stadiums around the country.

But since that’s unlikely to happen, Sports Fans Coalition has asked the FCC to examine the issue. In formal comments filed with the FCC in May, we simply asked the agency to reconsider its own rules on blackouts. We believe that for decades the FCC has needlessly been enforcing blackout rules under the mistaken assumption that this is what Congress wanted of them. We have shown them this is not the case. So we asked the agency to just have another look at the issue, particularly given all the forms of media via which fans can watch games.

The NFL freaked out.

In a formal response filed in late June, the NFL attacked Sports Fans Coalition and actually argued that blackouts are in the best interests of the fans. The NFL basically said that the league would fall apart if the FCC’s sports blackout rule was amended. HA! As if.

When a new labor agreement is finally reached, likely in the next few weeks, fans should demand of the NFL and NFLPA, and the sports media, if there is anything in the agreement that specifically benefits fans, like the elimination of the blackout rule.

If the NFL (and NFLPA) are unwilling to take care of ending the absurd, archaic and unethical practice of blacking out games on its own, Sports Fans Coalition will continue to fight the fight here in Washington. Someone has to shine a light on the dirty business of sports.

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. Email him at brian@sportsfans.org and follow him on Twitter here.

Tuesday, NFL owners met in Chicago to discuss the latest details of the labor negotiations with the players (and to try to work out their own internal differences). Unless NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can unite them and reach a deal with players ASAP, it’s looking as though, at the very least, NFL training camps will be missed.

For many NFL fans, summer training camp is as close as they’ll ever get to their favorite teams. From late July through mid-August, NFL teams leave the big city to take over nearby small towns, providing an oft-needed economic boost. For instance, for the past 45 years, the Minnesota Vikings descend on Mankato, which is 90 minutes south of the Twin Cities. And when they do, they bring with them around 60,000 Vikings fans, which is just a bit more than the population of the entire city. More importantly, these 60,000 Vikings fans reportedly bring in about $5 million to the area, according to the Greater Mankato Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Or take Anderson, Indiana, which last year saw 80,000 Colts fans come to town, generating a reported $6.5 million for the local economy.

For many NFL fans, these training camp trips are an annual tradition. And from Mankato to Flagstaff to Spartanburg, if the lockout continues, there are going to be a lot of empty hotel rooms, dining tables and bar stools. And in this economy, that might even mean the end of some small businesses. (All while NFL owners and players fight over how to split up $9 billion.)

So in Minnesota, the Vikings have set a July 18 deadline to decide whether to make the trip to Mankato. Given the current state of labor talks, there’s a strong chance that deadline will not be met. While there had been a couple weeks of cautious optimism that a deal would be struck, reports came out last week that the talks “almost blew up” on Tuesday.

From the beginning of the labor dispute, the NFL and most in the media have failed to consider or examine the economic impact of a work stoppage on our NFL cities – and that certainly includes the cities and towns that play host to NFL training camps.

It’s now time for the mayors of these towns to speak up and for the citizens to make some noise. Unfortunately, there continues to be a belief among many who might be affected that the owners and players will work it out.

“We’re not too worried, actually,” said Bob Bledsoe, who owns a sports bar in St. Joseph, Mo., where the Kansas City Chiefs train. “Last year was exciting. It was a lot of fun, and we would miss that. But we’re pretty confident that the NFL and players will work it out.”

Problem is, they don’t always work it out. Consider what the New York Times wrote about a possible Major League Baseball strike in 1994:

Some owners don’t think the players would strike because they wouldn’t want to forgo their large salaries. But the owners have made that mistake in previous negotiations. In 1981, Ray Grebey, their chief negotiator, told the owners the players wouldn’t strike because they wouldn’t give up their pay. When they struck, he told them they’d be back as soon as they missed their first paycheck. Fifty days later, the strike ended when the owners ran out of strike insurance.

How long were Major League Baseball players willing to “forgo their large salaries”?

232 days.

In 2004, NHL players were willing to be locked out for the entire season rather than give in to owners’ demands.

So NFL fans and local businesses and workers need to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. This lockout could drag on for many more months and lead to missed weekends of football this fall. At that point, the damage to local economies in cities hosting training camp will seem like peanuts.

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. Email him at brian@sportsfans.org and follow him on Twitter here.

We’re officially down the rabbit hole.

Ninety days into the lockout and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is now trying to convince fans that the lockout is in their best interests.

Thanks, but no thanks.

On Wednesday, Goodell talked with Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ticket holders on a conference call and explained why NFL owners are locking the players out.

“We can’t continue to shift the cost, whether it’s the rising player cost or the rising cost of operating an NFL franchise, on to our fans,” he said. “That’s why we’re trying to get a better economic model.”

Goodell added: “And I think everyone understands that. You are not being left out of the equation. The fans are a big part of that equation and a big part of the success of NFL football.”

Needless to say, Goodell’s comments have been mocked from fans and the media. A sampling:

@MikeSilver: “@ProFootballTalk: Roger Goodell tells fans lockout is for them, too http://bit.ly/itxY2z” the nobility of the owners’ cause overwhelms me

@StephStradley: REALLY?! OK, write in new CBA cost savings go to fans RT @ProFootballTalk Goodell tells fans lockout is for them too http://wp.me/p14QSB-z4l

@EaglesCouch I’m glad someone is fighting for the fans! RT @ProFootballTalk Goodell tells fans lockout is for them too http://wp.me/p14QSB-z4l

@Grantland_Rice Think of the thousands we will save not attending games! Mr. Goodell’s generous concern for fans outshines Saint Nicholas himself.

Of course, everyone realizes that owners aren’t really concerned about shifting costs – they’re concerned about protecting profits. They will pass on the costs to the consumer (and taxpayers) just as much as is necessary to ensure they continue to make the profits they feel they deserve.

You want a better economic model, Mr. Goodell? Start with public ownership. No, I’m not saying the owners have to give up their teams. I’m saying that if there are rising costs (primarily driven by the owners insistence on lavish new stadiums with luxury boxes they can sell), then allow fans to help pay these costs by giving them small ownership stakes. What fan wouldn’t jump at the chance to buy a share of his or her favorite team? Problem solved.

You want the players to take $1 billion less? Give them ownership stakes. Players would jump at this. But the owners you represent don’t want to do that. “My clients don’t want to be partners with your guys,” your lawyers told the NFLPA.

Okay, maybe those things are too radical. How about simply opening up the books? Worried about the economic future of the game? Make a solid case using numbers that everyone can see.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, fans are being “left out of the equation.” Why are fans and the public not allowed to have representation in these negotiations if they are such a concern? Certainly, one could make the case that fans and taxpayers are entitled to have representation given the massive public investment we’ve made in the game (at least $6.5 billion on stadiums alone).

Mr. Goodell, I don’t envy you having to defend the fact that owners are willing to cancel games because they want to protect their profits (because they don’t want to address their own broken revenue sharing model). But please spare us the platitudes. No one wants to hear them.

Not the workers in and around the stadiums – many of whom who will really suffer without games being played. Not the small businesses who may go out of business without Sunday football.

Not the taxpayers who have paid billions to build this game up so the owners and players could profit.

And certainly not the fans, who are being forced to see football owners and players fight over how to divide up the massive profits we give them.

How about you work on convincing NFL owners that they’re looking a gift horse in the mouth?

Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication and lives in Washington, D.C. Email him at brian@sportsfans.org and follow him on Twitter here.

by Scott Weiss

For sports fans, this is a time of incredible mixed emotions. For Mavericks, Heat, Bruins and Canucks fans, it is a time of incredible excitement related to their teams battling for the NBA and NHL championships. Sports fans live and die with their teams for moments like this. Although it has amazingly been 17 years since it occurred, I can still clearly remember my beloved Rangers carrying the Stanley Cup around Madison Square Garden in 1994. Unfortunately, along with this euphoria, comes the lowest of lows for sports fans.

Since March 12th, the NFL has been in the midst of a lockout of its players. This historically moronic work stoppage has taken place despite the fact that the league has been generating over $9 billion a year in revenue. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the problem of trying to figure out how to split up $9 billion? Talk about killing the golden goose! The more I think about it, the more I can’t believe that the powers that be in the NFL have let this happen. Today, the two sides resumed their court battle related to the lifting of the lockout. There has been some rumblings this week of progress made between the owners and players, but I’ll believe any good news only when I see it. The reality is that the league is perilously close to destroying the 2011 season, and permanently scarring the beloved NFL.

As if the NFL situation isn’t bad enough, the NBA is barreling toward its own lockout, which may occur at the end of this month. There was some optimism expressed by both sides this week, but the two sides still seem to be far apart with less than a month to go before the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement. David Stern seems to be no more capable than his counterpart, Roger Goodell, from destroying his successful league. Not to make my fellow sports fans totally depressed, but the MLB collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2011, and the NHL agreement expires in September 2012.

Meanwhile, the big four sports leagues continue to totally and completely take their fans for granted. Despite Roger Goodell’s patronizing conference calls with NFL fans, he and his buddies don’t give a crap about the people that pay their bills. I continue to hold out hope that this historical moment will collectively wake sports fans up and get them to realize that only together can fans flex their muscles and stop this insanity. SportsFans.org has stepped up as the voice of sports fans, and it is time for fans to get on the train of change. Without this change, fans will be in the same boat when the next round of collective bargaining agreements expire, and new work stoppages are jammed down our throats.

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Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey and an SFC Sportwriter Fellow. He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000. He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

by Scott Weiss 

Once again, Roger Goodell is making this an us-against-them battle.  In a USA Today interview, Goodell slammed the NFLPA’s legal strategy, and tried his best to buddy up to the fans. 

News flash from this NFL fan: don’t bother Roger! 

Clearly what this battle needs is an impartial commissioner with the smarts to bring the two sides together and hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.  Roger Goodell is proving to be a mere puppet for the billionaire NFL owners. 

We can only hope that the NFL lockout represents a turning point in the business as usual approach of the big four American professional sports leagues.   An important lesson to be learned here is that all of the leagues need a strong commissioner that represents the best interests of the game and not just the best interests of the owners.

For the full story click here.