Welcome back from Spring Break. I have missed you all, and I have missed our blog. With all of the drama in the world right now, there is certainly plenty to talk about-- and plenty of very serious things. But, this week we are going to talk business-- BIG business.
Keep in mind that I am not necessarily a football fan, and I am the first to admit that I am no expert in the game. But what I can tell you is that I was raised by parents who own a sports bar-- a sports bar near Cleveland, no less. Football is business. It means something to the owners, the players, and to the communities that support the sports entertainment industry.
The current labor dispute in the NFL tells us a lot about ourselves and a lot about our culture. Here are some links to interesting commentary on these things (these links are only suggestions to get you going and familiar with the arguments):
THE FANS:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/598438-nfl-labor-dispute-the-fans-are-the-real-victim-and-greed-is-the-motive .
THE PLAYERS: http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/n-f-l-lockout-q-a/
THE OWNERS: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704027504576198823607805368.html#project%3DNFL1103%26articleTabs%3Darticle
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/16/AR2011021603846.html .
THE OTHERS: http://www.inc.com/articles/201103/what-an-nfl-lockout-would-mean-to-small-business.html .
Regardless of which side of the dispute you favor, much wisdom can be gained by drawing on the lessons that we have learned this semester. The quantitative analysis is straightforward. But, tell me: how can the wisdom inherent in the principles of solidarity, subsidiarity, and respect for life help inform this debate? And have we learned anything from the Papal economic encyclicals that could prove insightful?
I am interested in your thoughts.
MSBA511 - Applied Financial Management, exploring our vocations in business with a vision of service to God and community.
Much can be said relating our study of Catholic Social Thought throughout the year and the NFL lockout. The subject of solidarity, subsidiarity and respect for human dignity are all represented in this scenario.
ReplyDeleteSolidarity, or the coexistence of a people, is an integral part of the NFL. Teammates must work together to win games. Coaches must lead their teams to victory and fans are encouraged to cheer for their favorite teams. Every stakeholder related to the NFL is valuable. In the case of the lockout, the relationship between the owners and the players has become volatile. Both understand their reliance on the other and have come to leverage their power in an exploitative way. Rather than working together for the betterment of the NFL, the two groups are at odds until conditions are met. It's unfortunate that just two sets of stakeholders are affecting the enjoyment of the rest.
Subsidiarity is also present. I understand that owners are important to the NFL, but I would argue that they aren't at the lowest level of this situation. I am interested to learn more about the coaches' and managers' points of view since it is they that have more personal relationships with the players. In all reality, NFL is no longer just about a sport--It's a business and therefore getting to the bottom of an issue is challenging. Also, this doesn’t seem the place for the US government to be involved. It seems far out of their scope, as those enforcing the laws are very far removed from the teams in the NFL.
Respect for human dignity speaks the most to me regarding this situation. There is a part of me that is embarrassed to live in a country that is focusing so much on disputes about celebrity athletes. There are much more pressing crises facing the world that would be helped with the resources being used to document the lockout. Millions of people live on a dollar a day and yet Americans are trying to negotiate their millions. When put into perspective, human dignity is not respected.
To be fair, I can acknowledge the fact that people become accustomed to a certain level of wealth. A person earning $10 million one year will indeed need to make changes to her life if she earns $8 million the next. Any decrease in one's salary can create challenges, however, those challenges seem magnified for those who aren't earning millions. As explained in the article posted by Prof. Carpenter, it's the owners of bars who depend on Sunday's patrons, the concession stand employees who may face job loss and the small memorabilia shop owner who will be hit the hardest because of this ordeal. Having a decrease in pay when one is earning millions seems like small potatoes compared to a decrease in pay for someone earning an hourly wage. How is human dignity being portrayed for those people?
Everyone benefits from a business perspective during football season. But where and when will the line be drawn. Internally, football has gotten out of control and the dispute between owners and players should not have reached this point. Because of its popularity there has been a growing greed that is responsible for this dispute as well as the lack of solidarity. The players are used to the money they have been making and the owners feel they deserve more, which would leave the players with less. The principle of solidarity calls for coexistence, teamwork, and mutual benefits… principles that the game of football has been built upon. Despite the great amount of revenue no one can come to an agreement. Everyone loves football but the importance given to these athletes and their high paying salaries goes to show that their work ethic is skewed… where is their integrity? Where is the respect for human dignity? Many of these players help out non-profits and fundraise and help others, but considering the billions they’re making… what they give back is nothing! From a cultural standpoint, football is important but in reality this lockout shouldn’t be such an issue. As the video portrayed, the government is more than partly to blame. How can subsidiarity be upheld with the government’s iron first barging in? I believe the NFL should be completely private. This will enable the corporation to make actual decisions and one side will triumph, and business for business sake, will be strengthened.
ReplyDeleteThis specific example reminds me of a discussion we had in our spirit of enterprise class last semester. We discussed how society views those who are extremely wealthy differently depending on how much of their wealth they give back to society. The CEO’s that are typically held accountable for fraud are the ones that expend their money on outlandish parties, luxury items, and do not give back to society. Others such as Bill Gates, who give an enormous amount of money back to society, are typically not monitored as heavily. It all relates back to subsidiarity and the common good model. The main take away from our accounting class last year that has stuck with every single one of us is that is bad to be a hoarder. We should all do what we can to give back to society and in return the karma comes back around. As Meredith and Jenna both mentioned, it is not the player’s money or the owner’s money. The 9 billion dollars in revenue belongs to the fans. These fans unlike the players, do not have the luxury of a multi-million dollar contract. This means that their income was probably hurt by the recession, yet their love of the game was strong enough for them to continue attending their favorite past time sport. The NFL should be ashamed because their greed and strike over 9 billion excess dollars is directly hurting their fans. Without a full stadium that excess revenue would not exist. The customers and fans are being neglected and the shareholders are hoarding every excess penny they can get their hands on. The right thing to do would be to reward the fans that sacrificed during the recession to keep the sport alive. They should lower ticket prices or donate to charities instead of purchasing Ferraris and beach houses. Imagine what even 1 billion dollars in donations would help accomplish. Eventually this type of greed typically leads to some sort of misdemeanor resulting in fines, penalties, or possibly jail. Therefore, although the government did indeed intervene and cut them a break, as I said karma always comes back around!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I firmly believe both parties are equally guilty in hoarding, if I had to side with a team in this case it would be the players. Even though they make millions they do have a lifespan well below the national average. This paired with the risk, injuries, and hefty health insurance policies do make them more entitled to higher compensation.
Before I mention anything worthwhile for this blog I just want to inform everyone that I have never watched a complete NFL game in my life, not even a Super Bowl. So now on to the worthwhile part…
ReplyDeleteAccording to my research, there are 32 teams in the National Football League. 32 teams translate into 32 owners. Each team has numerous coaches so I’m being generous and saying that there are approximately 10 coaches on each team and a total of 320 coaches in the league. According to my research, there is a 53 man roster for every team, times that by 32 and you get a total of 1,696 players. So the total number of coaches, owners, and players in the NFL is approximately 2,048. (32+320+1696 =2048)
The 2011 Super Bowl game had over 110 million people watching.
Now tell me how it is possible that a little over 2,000 people can forget about the common good and bicker amongst themselves for so long that the football season is cancelled? In the end it’s not the owners or the coaches or even the players that are hurt the worst from this lockout. It’s the 110 million people who spend they’re Sunday and Monday nights watching the football games, it’s the concession stand workers who may be out of work and the bar owners that 1/3 of their money comes from these football game nights. If there is one reason and one reason only that the owners, players, and coaches should come together quickly and make this season happen it’s for the fans. Because truthfully, without the fans, the coaches, players and owners would be nothing.
Overall I find this whole lockout thing ridiculous. It’s too bad that everyone (the coaches, owners, and players) can’t remember why they started playing football in the beginning...for the fun of the game.
I would like to start by reaffirming the concept of hoarding and how it relates to this situation. According to a cursory search the NFLPA and NFLOA were separated by about 540 million dollars- certainly enough to be split between the parties comfortably, especially when one takes into account that the NFL is not a business undergoing a difficult period- these revenues are larger than they’ve ever been and even if one group agreed to a lesser percent of the total than they would like, even one less than their current share- it would allow the season to take place and each group to reap more than they’d done in the past. Lauren is right- both groups are hoarders: unwilling to share with others.
ReplyDeleteThis situation also shows the silliness which may take place when subsidiarity isn’t adhered to. This is a dispute between employees and their boss; why the federal government, teams of lawyers, P.R. spin doctors, marketing people, writers, photographers and everyone else needs be involved is an unaddressed issue. Has either side considered meeting in the middle of their dispute and forgoing the ridiculous sums of money being spent on conflict resolution? How close may the groups be without affording the overhead of a formal union? How much would the owners save in not having to defend their position? How much will both sides lose by not having a season next year? I believe that this is why even unions should be governed on a local level- while the big stars won’t be in much trouble without a paycheck for the next 12+ months- the average player certainly will be. Many players can’t afford a long stretch without pay as they aren’t really ready to do anything else. While their voices are drowned out by the drama and grandeur of the top players- their voices must be heard. If the union negations were held on a team by team basis each player would have a greater voice in the overall debate. This would also allow for flexibility on negotiations- if a team has more it can give more and a team with less can settle to give less. As it is there are two needlessly monolithic forces struggling- each not settling for anything less than the wishes of their most extreme members. If a team by team approach could be taken the pressure applied by settlements of more reasonable unions and ownership groups would force the outliers to abandon their extreme stances in favor of something that truly benefited all involved.
This whole situation is interesting in that it shows a total lack of concern on the part of both the players and the owners for fans and small businesses. As the other members mentioned in this forum, the whining and “take-my-ball-and-go-home” mentality will hurt pretty much everyone but the players and team owners. Obviously, this does not seem right or very ethical but that is how business is conducted. Those involved in the negotiations should not really be expected to give much thought to peripheral characters in the industry (although it would be nice if they did). But that is the sad fact of the matter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not beleive that this is all one-sided. I believe the NFL will hurt itself in the long run if they continue to behave this way. All of those small business and fans will turn away. They will move onto something new if they feel that they are nothing more than an afterthought to the players and owners. Those in control of the NFL need to realize that they need these small businesses and fans. If it were not for them, there would not be any teams.
Let the NFL continue down this road; they may have a false sense of security. They do not seem to realize that they are replaceable. I’m not saying that NFL teams will just going to go out and hire scabs. What I am saying is that the entire sport can be replaced. Much like baseballs fall from grace, so too can football come undone. Recall that MLB still hasn’t fully recovered from the players’ strikes of the early 90s. The players and owners of the NFL should be careful if they think that they can continue to carry on with such a total disregard for their fans and for the game itself.
Americans tend to have small attention spans and will start to look elsewhere for entertainment if they continue to get the shaft. They might be inclined to move on to another sport such as rugby. They could actually watch a game that doesn’t involve a stop after every 3-5 seconds of play, two commercial in the span of 3 minutes, and creepy, sterile halftime shows with the Black Eyed Peas. Actually, the more I write about this the better this sounds.
I’m in favor of the lockout. Go for it. Maybe ESPN will finally start to carry rugby.
The current conflict between the NFL owners and players union is a great example of a lack of respect for human dignity by all parties involved. I find it very unsettling that billionaires are currently arguing with millionaires in the current economic environment. I do understand that the NFL is billion dollar industry which has many different aspect and components, but at the end of the day they are a simple employees and employers.
ReplyDeleteFrom a purely economic stand point; it would be in the best interest of all parties involved to come to an agreement. They stand to loss a lot of money if they cannot come to an agreement and if the lockout last for a substantial amount of time I could see the NFL loosing some fans or another smaller professional football organization. The owners would also be stuck with the bills of upkeep on the stadiums while not receiving any revenues from the facilities unless they lease out the buildings for concerts etc. The players will have to try to maintain their standard of living without their NFL salary; some may be forced to find work in other job markets.
In regards to respect for human dignity, owners and players must take into account the vast amount of people that will be affected if there is no NFL season in 2011. The dispute is between the NFL and the NFL players union, but they are not the only people affect by the NFL season. Many people work in the stadiums and for the teams and the loss of a 2011 NFL season would have a direct impact on these families. From following the dispute I only hear of these two parties disagreeing on financial maters. I think an agreement will be made, I just wonder if the agreement will be made, because each side agree on how to divide this “billion dollar pie” or they see that to not coming to an agreement will result in too many losses financially and in lives of many different communities.
As a international student I know even less than Nicole about Football and do not quite get the game. That said, my question is why is the government involved in a sports association? I think that is one of the root cause of the problem at hand.
ReplyDeleteSecond, both owners and players are very well paid, so why the hoarding of funds? I see Greed when I hear stories like the NFL "dilemma".
I think all parties should contemplate the association's main goal; entertainment, profit-driven, or else. I personally belive that the money could be divided and/or invested in facilities improvement. But that's just me.
It seems that in the big picture, human dignity is not being respected. If one takes the side of the fans, then perhaps a more balanced situation and agreement for the owners and the players will fall into place that in turn, will ultimately benefit them. After all, greed, and so many imbalances between doing what is best for the NFL, has led to this lockdown debate. Now, no one is benefiting. If there were a balance in which the reasons that please the fans were addressed, then this problem would have never occurred. I do not think there is anything wrong with paying a player "too much" or even a half a billion dollars in the example of Alex Rodriguez in baseball, if, other stakeholders are also having their interests met fairly. Clearly, the fans suffer, and they have been supporting the NFL, so here is a clear injustice and wrongdoing against the fans, which will result in the whole NFL suffering.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole's comment and further add that if everyone has to do their part and suffer from this recession (no bonuses, etc) why shouldn't entertainers and athletes? This is just an act for attention. I think everyone brought out good points about subsidiarity and solidarity issues. I believe human dignity is a major issue for its what our society comes down to and should be built upon. There are many other important things happening in the world right now. I can only hope that this strike would be a sort of wake up call to the players that what they do and how they make their money shouldn't be taken for granted. Maybe the attention drawn to this is good for society to see the vices of some people and question themselves as to whether or not they would want to support them. I would much rather talk about the destruction being caused in Japan and Libya and how these catastrophes will impact our future. They can either come and go from our sight or they could impact our world forever. Nothing is certain and can be planned.
ReplyDeleteI found Becket's comment to be very amusing. I also find it interesting that the video pretty much blames the government for the whole fiasco. The US government needs to stop meddling in things that are of little concern to them and worry more about other things. Anyways, this whole lockout it completely contradictory to the spirit of the game itself. Sports are supposed to bring people together, it is supposed to be fun. Obviously, once something becomes a business it becomes less about fun and more about profit, but I think these people need to think less about profit and more about the game itself. I come from a small town of Urbana where football is EVERYTHING. Football is what helps bring the town together. I'm personally not a fan but I still find it fun to go to the bar or a friends house to watch a game. I, therefore, agree with everyone that said that this is going to hurt the fans.
ReplyDeleteThere is much to say about this issue - since there are so many facets to it. I think a lot of my classmates have appropriately taken issue with the absurdity of the money-throwing and the lack of human dignity being espoused. I like how Tommie referred to it: "billionaires arguing with millionaires." As we have learned throughout this program, any business needs to be conducted with a keen grasp of human dignity and respect for all parties involved in a business transaction. Professional sports already has a dubious reputation of overpaying (and ego-inflating) its players. Given this economic climate - and the fact that attending sports venues is a luxury, not a necessity - I think that the NFL should show a little more tact.
ReplyDeleteGreed has been mentioned a lot throughout the topic, and I think for good reason. It almost seems offensive people are making this much noise - considering the money they already make. That is not to say that they don't have a right to - in this free market capitalistic nation we live in, we have every right to - and yet, I think there should be more concern for the bigger picture, than just money and how to make more of it. One of the article's Prof. Carpenter cited was excellent in comparing and contrasting the MLB with the NFL - as the MLB is often criticized for being a greedy, dollar signs-obbssed organization. But as we see - the NFL might be inching closer to that, and as we know -habits spawn actions.
And of course we have mention of government intervention, which is often frowned upon, especially today, since President Obama's reputation has certainly waned in the last year or so. And I think it rings true that - regardless of what you think about the government's role in society - in this instance, the government shouldn't get involved. Rather, the sincere hope is that the NFL - and all the players involved in this issue - can resolve the matter in a way that benefits everyone as a whole, but mostly for the fans. The fans are the heart and soul of the industry, and their commitment is really what makes everybody in the organization wildly rich.