The end of the NFL as we know it!

[SCP]

It is not the league, it is the players. I personally do not want to be in the WAC, so that while the Panthers make the championship game they automatically get their @$$ handed to them by default.

Who would give a mid-size market team a lucrative contract to compete? Bojangles or Harris Teeter?

If this scenario played out, the Panthers wouldn't be in Charlotte for long. We'd get smacked around for a few years and the stadium would grow emptier by the Sunday. Why would Bojangles sign up for that?

[KJDaniel31]

I'm shocked Fiz lasted this long....I'd have hung myself.

While I agree that a free market would clearly regulate itself, I don't think it will happen. I have felt all along that if this ruling happened, the owners would simply concede to some of the players demands in order to keep the draft/salary cap.

Fiz:

You don't think the unique makeup of professional sports leagues should be an exception to the anti-trust laws? You know you can still be a free market capitalist and believe in exceptions, right? Not saying I think they should be (not educated enough on the laws) but its an interesting discussion.

[KJDaniel31]

Whether or not I am capable of paying to go to these games is irrelevant to the topic. You are senile to believe that the popularity of the NFL will not go down. I'd equate what we would witness to F1 and Indy Car, two prime examples of a sport where revenue directly correlates to the results on the tracks weekly. Both of which barely are alive from their glory days. Both direct results of uncapped, unlimited funding. If this is the path you wish to go down, you will be cheering (or not) for the LA Panthers.

The NBA another great example. A league with a salary cap, but you can exceed it so long as the teams is willing to paying a luxury tax over the cap. Look at who wins year in and year out. The teams with the most funding. The declining popularity of the NBA speaks for itself.

Sure, you have a heart warming story like the Giants or Marlins occasionally in MLB, but this is the exact model you have in that sport. Look at the teams that traditionally dominate in and out every year. Yankees, Red Sox, Philllies, Angels, and Texas. I will lose interest in the NFL if this is the path it takes. I don't particularly care for the 3 other major American sports nor NASCAR as its went the same route.

To each his own..

The Spurs are a terribly funded team (relative to other perennial winners) who is never among the highest spending teams in the NBA. What they do is draft better than any other team and keep those guys there.

And win 4 titles in the past 12 years, while making the playoffs every year.

[RealisticFan]

If this scenario played out, the Panthers wouldn't be in Charlotte for long. We'd get smacked around for a few years and the stadium would grow emptier by the Sunday. Why would Bojangles sign up for that?

Exactly

[mountainpantherfan]

Fact is, the draft and the salary cap have made the NFL the most popular sport in the US because they have created parody among all 32 teams. Getting rid of the draft and the salary cap would greatly diminish the appeal of the NFL for the majority of fans.

Truth is, the players want the cap and the draft because the majority of players are not elite talent and with no draft they are doomed to be stuck on crappy teams and without the cap there is also no floor.

You see this is where people saying this is only scare tactic on both sides are wrong. The players and owners are no longer in control of this situation. The lawyers are. And who makes more money if there is no draft or salary cap? The lawyers (aka agents) will be rolling in money for years over these lawsuits. And the agents (aka lawyers) don't care about the draft because with the new system they will be able to shop their clients around to everyteam not just negociate with the one that drafted them.

The owners and players have been pawns in a lot of this. For that I blame the owners and players. But before they know they won't be able to go back to the system that want due to the courts.

[SCP]

The Spurs are a terribly funded team (relative to other perennial winners) who is never among the highest spending teams in the NBA. What they do is draft better than any other team and keep those guys there.

And win 4 titles in the past 12 years, while making the playoffs every year.

Again, loss for the Panthers. We traded up for Armanti f*cking Edwards. Not exactly a Spur-like move.

[KJDaniel31]

Again, loss for the Panthers. We traded up for Armanti f*cking Edwards. Not exactly a Spur-like move.

And you shouldnt be able to make moves like that and not suffer consequences. Much like if we follow that move by drafting a 3/4 round project #1 overall and he busts. You never see the Patriots or Spurs missing so badly on high picks.

We could learn a thing or two from such teams.

[bleys]

lol i cant do this anymore

it was a good run.. surprised so many people failed to catch on.

Fiz does raise an interesting point even though it is a troll. Hypothetically if the league went this way, each team would negotiate their own TV deals, uniform rights, shoe deals, etc. The NFL would be like the NCAA but not as corrupt. Carolina, Jax, Cincy, Buffalo, and Atlanta would be like the WAC while Dallas, Washington, and the other big market teams would be the SEC.

no one can argue how billionaire's (Goodell's write up this AM) points to regulating the free market, which is in fact ironic.

[RealisticFan]

it was a good run.. surprised so many people failed to catch on.

no one can argue how billionaire's (Goodell's write up this AM) points to regulating the free market, which is in fact ironic.

Well the key to successful trolling is being able to maintain it throughout. I figured he would quit eventually and he did.

[jpniner]

as an advocate of the free market, I'm glad that finally the special considerations that have impeded the natural flow of economics are finally being done away with.

This is NOT A FREE MARKET

The Govt. Dictating via Fiat against the private property rights of Owners is not a "Free Market", its the total opposite by definition.

The Feds and Union have pissed on Private Property Rights and not allowing the owners to Self-Govern and Regulate the NFL as they see best.

[jpniner]

no one can argue how billionaire's (Goodell's write up this AM) points to regulating the free market, which is in fact ironic.

not allowing the owners within the NFL to self-regulate and instead having the Government force against their will the setup of the NFL, is not a "Free Market" by definition. The Government is interfering in the actions of private entities.

The NFL owners collectively agreeing to setup their business/industry in a way that allows for the allocation of players/employees, salary caps, revenue sharing, etc to make their overall product better....is their Freedom(hence Free Market).

The Govt. and non-ownership Players Union using coercion to alter that is by definition not a 'free market'.

[DaCityKats]

if im not mistaken did the Pats take a WR from florida in the 1st and bust? why people forget him.

[MadHatter]

due to the anti-trust exemption that has just been done away with.

it is clearly about to exist in the nfl and i for one welcome it's arrival.

perhaps it will serve as an example to the IT industry.

I completely understand and agree with your free market and economics analysis of the NFL. You are spot on in that regard.

But, this WILL destroy the NFL as we know it and WILL be detrimental to the game. To WELCOME that as you say is perplexing to say the least.

As a fan of the game, I would not WELCOME a situation that will destroy the product that I love.

[Fiz]

well if you agree with the philosophy but acknowledge that it hurts something you care about and are emotionally invested in, perhaps it's time to reevaluate...something something im having trouble connecting the dots here