Transcript of Panthers fan forum with the Commish

[CatMan72]

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell interacted with about 7,000 of the Panthers' season ticket households via telephone as a part of the PSL Owner Town Hall Fan Forum held Tuesday evening. Following is a transcript from Goodell's appearance.

On the current state of the labor negotiations:

“It is right now frustrating because instead of negotiating, we’re litigating. There are all kinds of litigation going on and that’s part of the process. The players felt that that was an important step for them. I respect that decision, although I think it still has to get resolved through negotiations. There’s a series of steps that still have to take place through the courts – decisions in Minneapolis, decisions in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. There will be a hearing on June 3 on several of those issues and that is probably the most significant date still going forward that we’re going to have to get through that hearing and decisions will be made by the court, and then we’ll adjust. But I would reinforce one more point one more time: that it’s just critically important that we negotiate rather than litigate. This is going to be resolved at the negotiating table and should be.”

On mediation scheduled to begin May 16:

“We go into every mediation session with the hopes that they will be fruitful. We will have our chairman Jerry Richardson, who you know very well. [He] will be with us and has provided great leadership for the NFL on this issue as well as other issues in the past with stadium committee and in fact an important decision on selecting the Commissioner. He will be there along with three other owners and we will look to try to do everything we can to move the negotiations in a way that will hopefully conclude in a fair deal for both the players and the clubs.”

On potentially reducing preseason games from four to two:

“I think you raised a question which the fans raise to me all the time, and that’s the quality of the preseason and as season-ticket holders having to pay for that. I think it’s something that we’re trying to address. The 18-and-2 format is one way of doing that. We think it improves the quality of what we’re doing as a league, which I think is always important to your fans and to your customers. It also improves the value. Undoubtedly fans believe that games that are competitive and they’re seeing the players they want to see are critical for them, and that’s something that we’re trying to address and that’s one of the potential solutions. But if we do that, it’s important that we do it the right way and we do it with the proper consideration to player health and safety. We’ve made some steps, we’ve made some proposals on how to do that in the offseason and the training camp, and even in the regular season. And I think if we do do that, we’ll do it with the players and we’ll do it in a responsible way, and most importantly responsible to you the fans.”

On possibility of next year’s No. 1 pick going to Panthers if there is no 2011 season and why Panthers are not scheduled for primetime games:

“We haven’t given any consideration to a season-long work stoppage. That’s obviously not our objective and we’re going to hopefully get this resolved and not miss any part of the 2011 season. That’s our objective and that’s what we’re working towards. Although I will note that some of the litigation that has been brought by the attorneys for the union is challenging the legality and the competiveness of the draft. So, those are things that we think are important to our game going forward and we’re going to continue to fight for them. On your second point on the national games, essentially what this is, is the games that we think will be most-appealing to a national audience. Unfortunately the Panthers didn’t have their best season last year; they are making changes to correct that and I think the selection of Cam Newton is a big step in doing that. I know how committed Jerry Richardson and everybody in the organization [is]. They have a new coach with Ron Rivera, a guy who’s been in the league as a player and coach, and I think will bring a lot, along with Marty Hurney. And they’re making changes to become competitive. The great thing about the NFL is that you can go from last to first, and we have some flexibility in our scheduling which would allow us to potentially put a big game later in the season for teams that do come on and are teams that proved that they’re going to have national interest through the playing of the season. So, we have some flexibility in our schedule to get them into our greater national window, but I can tell you that we in the NFL are proud of the Panthers. We’re proud of what they do and their stadium. Every opportunity we can get to get that on national television, we’ll seize that opportunity.”

On if there will be a rookie compensation system put in place:

“It’s been a major focus. It is something we have not been able to get resolved in our bargaining and negotiations with the players. We do think the system is out of whack. We think that the money should be going to proven veterans who’ve proven on the NFL field and not just on the college field. As much as we put into evaluation of players, there’s always some question about whether they make the adjustment into the NFL game, and you want to make sure that money is going to proven veterans. So, it’s an area we haven’t gotten an agreement on, but I know it is something the clubs are intent to get fixed.”

On why it took so long for the owners to make a proposal to the players:

“It didn’t. The owners made the initial proposal back to the players in November 2009. And there were several discussions, several meetings, several negotiations where different proposals were shared. What happened at the end of mediation was an attempt to make sure that all of the things that we had discussed, all of the things that we had proposed were clear and that we wanted to make sure that they understood exactly what was on the table. And that was the attempt on March 11, and that was what was sent to the players and generally the public is all aware of it because the owners believe it was a fair proposal that represented lots and lots of negotiations and we thought solutions to a lot of the issues that had been raised in those negotiations.”

On the need for unions in football:

“The issue is what’s happening by decertifying and saying they’re not a union and abandoning their collective bargaining rights, that itself is one issue. But what they’re doing is they’re combining that with suing the NFL under antitrust laws and saying a lot of the rules that are in place are violations of antitrust, and that is problematic. They’re challenging as I mentioned earlier the draft itself as being anti-competitive and illegal. Restrictions on free agency. There are a number of issues which we think are fundamental to continuing to produce the kind of highly competitive, high-quality football that I think is what fans have come to expect from the NFL. We’re going to continue to obviously defend that because we think the game of football is terrific, people love it and we should continue on with some of those basic system issues that have made our game so successful.”

On how a small window for free agency might affect each team:

“That’s one of the problems with the uncertainty and one of the reasons why we felt this should have been resolved back in early March at the negotiating table. We should not have left mediation. We should not have left negotiations. We should have continued to bargain because that’s the fastest and best way to get to a solution. And once we get to that solution, then you can have a free agency period which would be good for the players and good for the clubs, and obviously good for the fans. So, I think that uncertainty is something why we need to have urgency to the discussions and get this resolved so we can get into that free agency period, the teams can continue to make their plans for the 2011 season, and of course the players and fans want to get to that point.”

On why some of these issues could not have been worked out under the existing CBA:

“I don’t think they are minor issues. They are very significant issues. We had a contract expire; both the players and the owners had options to terminate the deal early to get them addressed. I think one of the things that’s made the NFL successful is – forgive the term – not ‘kicking the can down the road.’ It is that you address issues that are affecting the game and the success of the game long-term by making sure there’s a sustainable business model. That we address issues that you’ve raised – the rookie pool issue, retired players, player health and safety issues – all of those issues are very significant issues to the future of the game. They need to be addressed sooner rather than later. We’ve all known this is coming and we were in negotiations, and the sooner we get back to those negotiations the sooner we’ll get those resolved.”

Read more: http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Transcript-of-fan-forum-with-Commissioner-Goodell/fc414cbe-8b09-4096-939a-62d92b8be768

[countryboi]

who asked the questions?

[CatMan72]

who asked the questions?

PSL owners on the conference call

[Carolina Husker]

My dad was one of the people to ask a question. Then they opened it up to Hurrney and Morrison.

[MHS831]

Reduce the preseason to 2 games.

Add one game to the schedule, making it a 17 game season

Make every team play 8 reg season home games, 8 road games, 1 game at an international location near a military base preferably (ticket proceeds go to the NFL players retirement and benefits account, TV proceeds go to the NFL teams).

Add two playoff teams to each conference, increasing TV revenues and again, adding $ to the retirement/benefits of players.

Everyone wins. Goodell gets the extra games he needs, players are taken care of with retirement services and lifetime health benefits, international exposure, troops honored, pre-season shortened, etc.

[jtm]

The rookie salary cap has to be a given. Rookies making more than proven vets isn't right and it is a huge problem. The rest of the stuff I don't care about. The NFL and the players can divide up their big bag of cash however they want as long as it is done in a way that keeps the league healthy, and they DON'T do away with salary caps. If the players win, the NFL will turn into baseball and Cowboys and Redskins will have all the top players.

[Hoenheim]

blehh