Greedy NFL at it again. Playing hardball with refs
Owners want another game
Good morning, all and happy Tuesday!
The greedy NFL is at it again. You know, the league which has a license to print money and soak consumers, even if they do not know the difference between a football and a basketball. Look at your cable-TV bill, provided you have not cut the cord, if you do not know what I am talking about.
The NFL is now putting the squeeze on its officials, with the collective bargaining agreement with its officials about to expire. The greedy NFL, which rakes in billions, is attempting to put officials on call 24/7, even though being an NFL official is a part-time job. They want officials to drop their full time job at a moment’s notice to attend clinics, conferences, you name it. With all the money it has, the NFL could easily solve the problem my making the job of an NFL official full time. But do not look for that to happen. Better to pay NFL commissioner Roger Goodell $25M per year, than reward officials, who enforce the on-the-field rules, a fair year round wage.
NFL owners are conducting their spring meetings this week in Phoenix and the league has already let it be known, replacement officials are lined up, ready to step in, if the regular officials do not give in to the NFL’s demands. But do not worry. The league will continue to promote gambling on games, even if your wager comes down to a call made by a less experienced official, no matter how many safeguards the league puts into place. Sad.
Here are some other thoughts on the last day of March and last day of the first quarter:
Word is Netflix is at it again, seeking the rights to televise an NFL game on Thanksgiving eve and an international game the first week of the season. Look for this battle to become intense, with other streamers joining the fray.
NFL owners are putting on a full court press to add one more regular season game and bring the schedule up to 18 games per season. Patriots owner Robert Kraft is insisting another bye week be added, spreading the 18 games over 20 weeks. There is a lot of money at stake here. My hunch is the resistant NFLPA will give in to the owners’ push for the additional game, once the financial pot is sweetened.
NBC has to to be happy jumping back into televising MLB. It’s Opening Day telecast of the Mets-Pirates on Thursday afternoon garnered 2.3M viewers. Getting those numbers for a weekday afternoon game, Opening Day or not, is solid. That night, NBC televised the two-time defending champion Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks and that telecast garnered 3.2M viewers.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific Tuesday!
DAN