NFLPA HAS PLENTY OF CASH

Despite a pending $28 million verdict in a case brought by former players who claim that they were screwed out of licensing money, the NFL Players Association is still doing quite well, thank you very much.
According to Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, the union has earned net revenues of $181 million over the last decade, including a whopping $34.85 million in the reporting year ending February 29, 2008.
Interim Executive Director Richard Berthelsen justifies the cash bulge by pointing to the fact that, at some point, the union might have to go to war with 32 business backed by many more greenbacks.
“Our player reps have been continually reminded that our last labor fight cost tens of millions of dollars and took almost six years to resolve,” Berthelsen told Kaplan. “They also realize that the owners are all billionaires and that the next fight could be a lot more costly if the owners bring it to that. That is why we are building these substantial reserves. As we have always said, the only way to avoid a fight is to be prepared for one.”
The NFLPA’s finances were disclosed in conjunction with the punitive damages phase of the trial of the former players’ claims; though the amount of money an organization has at its disposal is rarely relevant to liability claims made against it, financial condition becomes directly material to an assessment of punitive damages, since proper punishment can be determined only by considering the impact the award will have on the wrongdoer.