In 2006, the NFLPA hinged its final proposal for a new CBA on the league’s adoption of a meaningful system for sharing the unshared revenues, such as naming rights on stadiums and luxury suite fees.
The league complied, via a process that reallocates certain revenues generated by the team’s earning the most money based on need.
But now ESPN reports that the league has informed the union that the supplemental revenue sharing plan will be scuttled in March 2010.
Per the report, the union plans to challenge the move via a “Special Master” proceeding, an arbitration-style legal claim resolved under the auspices of the federal court that supervises the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The union plans to argue that the league can’t make the change without the union’s approval. The league contends that it has the right to do so without NFLPA consent.
The supplemental-revenue fund represents only 1.5 percent of the league’s total revenue. Still, the redistributed money helps to ensure that all teams are profitable. Without it, some could be hurting -- and for a team like the Vikings it could be the final straw that forces a move to Los Angeles.
