By: Bobby Shores
I know that with the lockout over, football games (even though they do not matter) and training camps in full swing, most people have put the 130+ day lockout behind them, and for the most part I am one of them, except that the NFL and the NFLPA still have an obligation to fix the collateral damage that they caused to an innocent bystander in this whole lockout.
I have repeatedly called for the jobs of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA Head DeMaurice Smith since their ego driven tirade against the fans of the NFL did nothing but hurt the product on the field, the millions of loyal fans, and more to tarnish the NFL shield than anything any player has ever done off the field (yes that is a shot at you & your dictator style "Personal Conduct Policy" Commissioner).
But I will get off of my "anti-establishment" soapbox for now, to publicly speak about something that the mainstream media seems to be ignoring (yes I am talking to you Peter King, Mike Florio, Mike Silver, Dan Patrick, Jason Whitlock, and many others). The injustice that has been levied against an innocent bystander...The Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF).
Since the new 10-year CBA was reached, the NFL, NFLPA, and seemingly the media has been hammering it into us fans that nobody was hurt by the lockout. Since the NFL draft numbers were strong (maybe less viewers but more people kept up with it on computers and mobile devices), no money is lost during mini-camps, and players practiced on their own, there was no damage done by the lack of football for over 4 months. This is just not true though!!
The cancellation has had far ranging effects, it has severely impacted the operating budget for the HOF and the city of Canton, has made this years inductees less relevant since there will not be as many fans attending, negatively impacted this years rookie class as they will not be making their annual trip to Canton to learn about the players that came before them and made the game they play what it is today, and ruined many fans one and only chance to see an NFL game this year (even if it would have been played mainly with scrubs), and it gives those players one less chance to prove themselves and possibly make an NFL roster.
The HOF was preparing to play the game up until the day that Goodell canceled it, and as of August 7 all preparations had been made, those preparations are not free, and the over 4,000 volunteers had spent a lot of time preparing.
Some local businesses saw sales for the 10 day festivities down anywhere from 10% to more than 40% with some attendance numbers seemingly not affected at some events and down by 50% or more at others.
The biggest injustice though is the financial impact that the HOF will feel, approximately $1.5 million of their annual operating budget has been lost due to Goodell and Smith.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, NBC lost nothing due to the cancellation of the game, Goodell and Smith made sure that one of the league's main sponsors was taken care of by giving NBC a new prime-time game, Chargers vs. Cowboys, but they forgot about the birthplace of professional football.
So what should be done? The NFL and NFLPA should immediately pledge to repay the Pro Football HOF all lost revenue. This is a small amount of money ($1.5 million) compared to the over $9 billion that the NFL will bring in this year, not only would it alleviate the financial strain placed on the HOF, but it would show that all parties involved in tarnishing the shield were trying to help the innocent bystanders. If the teams and league reimbursed employees for docked wages, then it is only right that they reimburse the HOF for lost revenue.
I would like to think that the two leaders of most powerful sports entity in the world would care that their Hall of Fame has lost a big chunk of their yearly operating budget, but since they got their salary and lost pay put back in place (along with some nice bonuses I am sure) I doubt that they have even given the HOF a second thought.....It appears that only Goodell, Smith, and a small army of lawyers were the real winners in this lockout....How sad it is....
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