http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/cflpa-preparing-for-potential-labour-stoppage/

 

"Believing they have reached an impasse after four months of negotiations with the Canadian Football League, the CFL Players’ Association is recommending its membership proceed with a strike vote, Sportsnet has learned.

The collective bargaining agreement between the league and players expires May 30, on the eve of training camp. And while both sides are scheduled to meet this Thursday and Friday in Toronto, documents obtained by Sportsnet indicate the union is readying itself for a potential labour stoppage.

“It is the position of your Negotiating Committee that the position of the CFL in relation to almost all matters and their refusal to have the cap in some way connected to revenue are unreasonable,” reads an internal memo written by CFLPA President Scott Flory and distributed to all CFL players last Friday. “As a result, we are recommending that the Players proceed with a strike vote.”

Flory, who did not immediately respond to Sportsnet’s request for comment, has previously stated that the union will not play the 2014 season under terms of the expiring CBA, while both sides negotiate.

Sources told Sportsnet that when the two sides broke on May 2, the league, which declined comment for this story, said it would return this week with further input from governors/owners on making progress toward a new economic model.

Since talks began in February, the CFLPA has been steadfast in its pursuit of revenue sharing, something that wasn’t included in the 2010 deal but has existed between the league and the CFLPA in the past. The league’s negotiation committee has not budged from its stance of having a fixed cap.

At the centre of the debate is a new television deal, reportedly worth $40 million this coming season. The current deal is worth $15.3 million.

Last season’s salary cap was $4.4 million and proposals obtained by Sportsnet show the CFL has offered the following when it comes to player compensation:

2014 – $4,500,000.00
2015 – $4,600,000.00
2016 – $4,650,000.00
2017 – $4,700,000.00
2018 – $4,750,000.00
2019 – $4,800,000.00
2020 – $4,900,000.00
2021 – $5,000,000.00

There are several other points of contention. The CFLPA has proposed a minimum annual player salary of $55,000—with a 10 percent increase annually. The league countered with a $46,000 minimum, which caps at $49,000 in 2021.

The union has proposed practice roster players make no less than $1,000 a week (or $18,000 per season). The league has countered with $750/week, but to increase the practice roster size to 12, from seven, and implement “two-way” contracts, making it easier for teams to release players.

The union is also pushing for an increase to post-season playoff share, and a hike to the Grey Cup bonus cheque, which the league has refused.

One area the two sides have come to terms on is the increase in roster size–from 42 to 44 on game day. The extra two spots would be occupied by a non-import and one designated import. The reserve list would drop from four per game to two.

The CFL has proposed an eight-year collective bargaining agreement, double the length of the current deal. The union wants the duration to be “subject to negotiation.”

A source tied to the league, speaking on the condition of anonymity, believes the tactic of the league and its governors/owners is patience—the thinking being that the union will eventually give in once the risk of losing pay is a legitimate possibility."

I don't know what the CFL's next step is, but if it were me, I'm taking the bonus I offered the players and throwing it all on the cap.

 

If they don't accept that, no one is going to be on their side.

 

Approximate bonus paid out would be 1.6 to 1.8 million. Toss in a few extra hundred thousand to use as a bargaining chip.

 

You maximize your revenue while giving the players what they want, and you will barely spend more than what you already accounted for on your most recent proposal.

 

 

 

 

Are they really using #wearetheleague??  Another great way to alienate fans.

 

If the players have any hill to die on, I hope they dont mind dying.  In the CFL, the league is in the drivers seat and has made a reasonable offer.  Players have to counter reasonably and put this thing to bed.

yes they are really using that hashtag.

 

And you don't like that? I sure feel don't feel alienated. More like who cares? 

 

I feel like the players dont get it.  Which means their leadership doesnt get it if they havent prepared the players better than that.

 

You cant say 'who cares' if you're on here discussing it.  You care.  You may not care what the players say online but you care about the process.  And to me the "public" show of solidarity just gets the public rolling their eyes.  The public reads about a bunch of guys who are spending all day hanging out with family, playing sports, working out, whining on twitter about how poorly they are being treated when they are expected to come play football for six months for $92,000 and then go back down south and chill out for the winter.  Hard to sway public opinion. The PA should have a complete cone of silence on the players and only let the leadership release statements.

 

Yeah, I can discuss the labour situation because I'm not just talking about stupid hashtags. I fail to see how a twitter hashtag is going to upset fans other than you & a few others. CFL players aren't millionaires & the majority never will be. The public sentiment is still with the players, I believe. Are fans happy? No. But both sides are being dickheads here equally. 

 

I didnt say it upset me.  I said it was stupid.  From a strategic standpoint it is.  The effort should not be to gain public support among the very patient, understanding, labour lawyer fans out there.  Its the average common fan who almost always turns against the players.  I dont think the PA has the support of the fans.

 

The media handwringing yesterday was because the PA's offer was so ludicrous.  But thats the problem with Collective Bargaining in the modern world.  Most unions think its 1912 still.  And yet, neither side can make their "best" offer first because the other side takes that and counters it.  They have to inch closer and closer, blow up a few times, come down to the wire, risk real money and then finally get locked in a room where they can speak honestly and "off the record" before finally putting their real ducks on the table.  Its unfortunate we have to go through the song and dance routine.

 

I thought most of these deals were really struck standing at the urinals during breaks?

 

My experience with unions and grievences etc is that its like children fighting over toys in a sandbox. 

The CFL threw in the 3k bonus for signing specifically because it was a one time item that they don't get locked into. They know the mentality of the players....short sighted, broke, broke and broke so tangle a carrot and don't get stuck into an item with repeated costs. I would suggest that the CFL will be more inclined to sweeten the pot with items that have no carry over costs.

i don't care what anyone says but the stuff on twitter is really making me agree with the owners here. 

 

Jon Cornish crying that he's not getting paid enough to feed his family, that's jon fricking cornish, he's a premier player in the league getting paid well over 6 figures. he even threw in a little face. Good god, get off twitter you moron.

 

Marquay Mcdaniel going on about if you want a loan, ask the qb's, they got all the money <--- cracks starting to show there

 

Juwan Simpson saying they dont want us to eat

 

All this stuff is just bullcrap and i'm sorry but these are the marquee players in the game, they are crying that they are broke, i dont buy it for half a second, they are greedy arrogant pricks really.

 

Could see it from their perspective for sure but this twitter stuff is getting ridiculous actually, the biggest mistake the cflpa has made so far is let their players go on twitter and basically rant.

 

It's hurting them more than it is helping them. You get the odd fan who agrees but... it seems most really see through the bs.

Not sure if anyone else posted this, but here's Kent Ridley's thoughts on the CBA and using the NFL percentages for the CFL. IMO much better than what the CFLPA was proposing and also better than what the league wants. 

 

http://blog.ridleyscouting.com/Kent_Ridley_Thoughts/My_Thoughts/Entries/2014/5/19_The_Magical_NFL_CBA_Formula.html

 

The Magical NFL CBA Formula

 

The players have a strong case for wanting to tie the SMS to revenues as it's a pretty standard practice for professional sports in North America. All of the major leagues have some connection between league generated incomes and what they distribute to the players. However that case isn't a long term solution when you start digging into the numbers. 

 

There is no doubt that the Canadian Football League isn't threatening to jump into the Big 4 of pro sports. A clear divide sits on the pro sports landscape and it's not just in North America. The NFL, MLB and NBA are the largest 3 sports leagues in the world for revenue. $9 Billion dollars a year are generated by the NFL, in second place is the $8 Billion generated by Major League Baseball and in third the $5 Billion from the National Basketball Association. 

 

The NFL uses a three piece formula to determine it's financial relationship with the players based on the annual revenue of the league. 

 

Where does the CFL sit for annual revenue? There are three portions to that equation. The first being what the NFL calls "Local" revenue which is basically game day revenues. Taking some cues from the press releases of the three teams that have announced it and adding some common sense and logic my projection is that game day revenue in the CFL averages out to approximately $550,000. Pre-season games are break even events at best so let's expand this to cover the 81 game regular season and come up with an approximate yearly total of $44.55 Million. We'll leave the Grey Cup outside the equation as the life blood of the CFL. Though there is a need to add in an estimated million dollars of revenue for each playoff game bringing the game day total revenue up to $48.55 Million. 

 

In 2013, three CFL teams drew game day attendances over 30,000 while two others were above the 2013 average of 27,005 fans per game. However because of the small confines of the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium that was home to the Ticats in 2013 let's look at the numbers from 2012. The League average was a respectable 28,192. That's a great figure especially when you consider that Montreal's Molson Stadium doesn't even hold that many. 

 

The second portion of the NFL equation is based the TV deal with four different network. For the NFL that equals $4.422 Billion per year. The CFL's deal with TSN isn't in the same ballpark with reports ranging from $40.8 Million to $43 Million per season. 

 

The third portion of the NFL equation is based on merchandise sales. In the CFL the leader is the Saskatchewan Roughriders who generate $7 Million each year in sales but they also account for 70% of the total meaning the League overall is only at $10 Million. 

 

Back to that NFL CBA equation, here's how it breaks down - 55% of TV Revenue; 45% of NFL Properties and 40% of Local or Game Day Revenue. Plugging in the numbers from above and it's $23.65 Million for TV Revenue, $4.5 Million for merchandise sales and $19.42 Million for game day revenues. That split up between the 9 franchises works out to $5,285,555 to use for a SMS cap.

 

That total is over $800,000 more than the 2013 SMS. 

 

In 2014 there should be a bump up in the game day portion of the formula thanks to the new stadiums but it should be noted the honeymoon only lasts a year. Season ticket sales in Winnipeg are well off the pace that Investors Group Field Fever drew last year and it can only be expected that the same will ring true in Hamilton and Ottawa. Also these new stadiums are much smaller than what Winnipeg has, so the pressure falls on a smaller draw to generate the big dollars. 

 

The players are asking to tie the SMS to League revenues and see the dollar signs in the short term. I firmly believe that they would be better served with a deal in the long run with the deal similar to what I proposed last week. 

 

What isn't clear is the expenses associated with holding an event the size of a CFL game. However the NFL equation trusts that the teams will generate enough revenue to cover expenses. In the CFL that license to print money doesn't exist across the board and in 2012 only 6 of the 8 teams finished in the black. We are still awaiting the announcement of the 2013 financials. While teams are still losing money there's something that should be holding back from just opening up the flood gates. 

 

 

EDIT: Podcast also available  

http://www.podcastgarden.com/episode/digging-into-the-sms_17697

I do see the only players that are venting on twitter seem to be from the Stamps.  Not sure if that says a lot about the owners.

I do see the only players that are venting on twitter seem to be from the Stamps.  Not sure if that says a lot about the owners.

good catch, totally didnt notice that. That is quite interesting actually.

CFLPA posted this on their Facebook account

 

https://www.facebook.com/proplayers.cflpa

 

 

 

CFLPA Letter to the Fans

I want to start by saying how disappointed I am in the CFL’s decision to walk away from these very crucial negotiations. The unfortunate ones caught in the middle are you, the fans. We, the players, only want a fair deal that reflects the concept of Players sharing in the potential growth of what we have all built.

Our Players love to play the game and nobody misses the smell of the practice field the first thing in the morning more than us. We all fell in love with this game as kids, and we now have the honor and privilege of playing the game professionally from coast to coast in front of the best sports fans in the world. As professionals, we want to be fairly compensated for the fast pace, physical, entertaining game that is on the field. We are in not interested in destroying the game that has given us all so much. We put our bodies, hearts and souls on the line and seek nothing more than to be fairly paid for what we do.

We understand the limitations, but we also understand what is fair. It is unfortunate that the business side of the game has tarnished what we are building. We want to build a partnership where both sides benefit.

There is a proud tradition and history of football in this country. We are looking to create a system that will provide long term labour stability so fans from coast to coast and around the world can continue to enjoy the amazing product the players put on the field.

In writing this letter, we the Executive, are still here where our negotiations were scheduled to be, working towards furthering talks. We need two sides.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Yours Truly,

Scott Flory - CFLPA President 
CFLPA Executive
All CFL Players

Enough posturing. Get to the table, sit down and figure it out.

 

Nobody is going to care who sends the nicest letters if there's a work stoppage.

Flory's letter is bush league compared to Cohons.  I agree with Mike.... get back to the table and get a deal worked out.

i don't care what anyone says but the stuff on twitter is really making me agree with the owners here.

Jon Cornish crying that he's not getting paid enough to feed his family, that's jon fricking cornish, he's a premier player in the league getting paid well over 6 figures. he even threw in a little face. Good god, get off twitter you moron.

Marquay Mcdaniel going on about if you want a loan, ask the qb's, they got all the money <--- cracks starting to show there

Juwan Simpson saying they dont want us to eat

All this stuff is just bullcrap and i'm sorry but these are the marquee players in the game, they are crying that they are broke, i dont buy it for half a second, they are greedy arrogant pricks really.

Could see it from their perspective for sure but this twitter stuff is getting ridiculous actually, the biggest mistake the cflpa has made so far is let their players go on twitter and basically rant.

It's hurting them more than it is helping them. You get the odd fan who agrees but... it seems most really see through the bs.

It's not about the money.

Scott Flory, noted lover of the comma, needs a media consultant, to help him craft his message.

IMO the players don't have a lot of choice.  

 

1. There are no other leagues that they can work in.  They would have to displace arena league players, and earn a lot less money.  

 

2. Hamilton and Toronto (and BC) can show historical and recent cash flow issues.

 

3. League revenues are nowhere near level across the board.  Saskatchewan can make huge money (fueled by clothing/jersey sales), where other teams are either barely breaking even or starting out (Ottawa).

 

4.  42 man rosters and 80 players on each pre-season roster, currently in shape ready to play.

 

At the ned of the day, I was very, very impressed with the CFL's stance and how it was described in Mark Cohon's letter.

5. The league has held back investment in its self. Leading to a laundry list of things that they could be taking advantage of but can't do while trying to keep clubs as profitable as possible returning revenues to the clubs rather than its self.

Lawless wrote a very informative balanced story. Friesen wrote a much shorter and negative story.

Which one is the professional? I try not to bash these guys but after Friesen read lawless' story wasn't he embarrassed at submitting his?

It appears that Friesen is not easily embarrassed.

That letter by Flory, wow. Bad. If the players & owners love us so much (notice how much love we always get when there's a strike or lockout?) then get back to the table & stay there until a deal is worked out. 

I wouldn't lose too much sleep over this. Both sides will posture, then huff and puff but work out a deal that neither side will be ecstatic about but both can live with.

I think we're destined for a strike folks.

 

The key will be how much staying power the players have. The league will gladly let the players strike for 1 or 2 reg. season games.

 

After that, all bets are off. The players have to be betting the league bends into their ploy and caves to their demands.

 

The players aren't getting revenue sharing this time. League doesn't want their books audited by Flory and his partners. Simple as that. 

 

Players have picked a good year to walk out. Winnipeg needs another strong season, Regina could make another 10 million, BC is starting to turn a profit, Hamilton has a new facility and want to get back in the black, Ottawa is new - they don't need a crash, Edmonton is mega-profitable as usual despite the clown circus running the show. Calgary, Toronto & Montreal couldn't care less whether they play 16 games or 18.

 

Players have to show their resolve (and solidarity) by actually walking off. At that point the league will ramp up the offer and try to 'save the season'. At least players better pray they do that. Otherwise, season might be lost - a 9 or 10 game season is an invitation for disaster. I'd rather have no season. 

I hate to say this, but if the players strike, I hope the League breaks them.  We're finally turning the corner with the CFL, with multiple massive community investments across the league, mostly financially healthy teams, an expansion franchise and now this TV deal which finally allows the league itself to be profitable but also solidifies the stability of the teams.  And the players think they should get a massive increase?  I think the players deserve to share in the success.  But the CFL's offer does that.  And knowing that no one makes an offer without the expectation of a counter, it means the CFL is willing to pay even more. 

 

If the players thumb their noses at the CFL's reasonable offer, then they can all borrow money from their agents and come back by week 3 for less pay.

Strikes never make any financial sense and this one would make even less than most as the only players getting more money this year would be the ones who are making league minimum.  I've read that some players contracts have a % boost based on the new agreement, so those players will also get an increase, but the vast majority of players will get nothing in return for going out on strike.  

 

In short, the offer doesn't give each player an x% increase on their current contract, it just increases the total salaries for all players on a team. 

Is that a donkey?

The players association is such a joke. Whether they like it or not, given the money involved they'll cave MUCH sooner than the owners will. The past 24 hours has shown who the amateurs really are between the league and the players.

 

As an aside, I must say the tweets I find particularly amusing are players that have been complaining that have just signed contracts this off season. Moore and Kuale come to mind immediately. I'm sure there are others.

Something will get worked out, it's just posturing, it happens all the time. CFL players aren't stupid although sometimes you have to wonder.. I think a deal is there to be made, they are closer than they appear, if the players would just stop going on twitter and crying about it and actually get back to the CFL with a reasonable counter offer, i think a deal can be made soon, it's not like they couldn't sit down and get a deal done in a day or so.. It's really just a lot of posturing to the fans right now. Not so much by the owners (in some case, you can say we are the owners, no i know not technically but...) 

 

We all seem to have such short memories when it comes to CBA's. NHL  players did the same, NBA players too, NFL players, heck even last time, the CBA didn't get finished until what? half way through or near the end of june? we got lots of time, if we miss a weeek or 2 of training camp, no big deal. Still not convinced we miss  training camp either though.