An open letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

An open letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
Mr. Goodell,
First and foremost, I wouldlike to applaud you for cleaning up the league'simagesince youtook over in 2006. For a while there it appeared that a few hooligans and their acts of tomfoolery not only threatened to undermine the integrity of the game, but alsothesocial and economic advances that had been made as well.
With that being said,cheap nfl jerseys, I would like toshare my concerns regarding thecurrent negotiationsfor a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and the . The one thing that I am particularly concerned withis the apparent lack of perspectivethatthe owners and the players have shown while they have beenat odds with one another overwho deserves more of the league's billions of dollars of available revenue.My question toyou is, if the owners and the players are seemingly only concerned about themselves, who exactly is concerned about the fans?
Take a moment if you will, toview this scenariofromthe point of view of a fan:really rich owners fighting with very richplayers over who gets the bigger slice of the revenue pie, while fans are asked to fork over more and more money to attend games or buy team-related merchandise. Someone is getting the short end of the stick alright, but I assure you it's neither the ownersnor the players. As I see it, the fans stand to lose regardless of how the current negotiations pan out.
If the owners "win" and receive a bigger portion of the revenue, than the quality of the product on the fieldruns the riskof deteriorating. After all,with less money possibly being allocated towards theplayers, higher-priced veterans would give way to inexpensive and inexperienced younger players, which judging by the performance of the Buccaneers last season, would certainly effect the level of competition on the field.On the flipside, if the players "win" than the owners can justify increasing ticket, concession and merchandise prices, further putting a financial strain on their loyal fans. Lastly, if both sides fail to come to an agreement then the resulting lockout means everyone--fans, players and owners--would lose.
Thecoreissue that I have is how public both sides have made the negotiations. Listening to millionaires complain about money is comparable to an overweight person complaining about being hungry. Frankly no one wants to hear it.The fact that most players earn more in one game than many teachersoremergency personnel earn in one year makes it something that people are tired of hearing about. Not to mention it's bad P.R. for the league, and we all know how much you care about 'protecting the shield.' So if I may suggest something to both the owners and the players: save the financial dissatisfaction talk for behind closed doors.
Now as I've already touched on, the price of attending an NFL game (preseason or regular season) is beginning to grow out of hand. Prices have soared relative to the cost just 20 years ago. In fact,a states that the average NFL ticket price in 2009 was $74.99, which is triple the cost of the average NFL ticket in 1991 ($25). Moreover, the report states that the Fan Cost Index, or FCI, rose to $412.64 in 2009, an increase of 4.1% from 2008. The FCI is a formula used to determine how much it costs a family of four to attend an event, which in this case is an NFL game. Now I am by no means an economist, but it certainly doesn't take one to realize that the average blue-collar fan is being priced out from attending an NFL game.
As far as finding a solution to easing the rate at which attending an NFL game has increased, I am at a loss. On one hand, the owners will be financially unable to lower admission, concession and merchandise prices until the players begin making less money.However, I find it highly unlikely that the players will ever sign off on a deal that earns them less money, hence the current stalemate betweenthe owners and the union. What I do know is that the league cannot possibly continue to put such a burden on their fans. At some point, both sides are going to have to concede a little for boththe betterment of the game and tohelp alleviate some of the financialstress that has been placed on thefans.A refusal to deviate fromthe status quo may trigger financial repercussions for the league,both shortand long term, assooner or laterfans will say 'enough is enough' and will turn their collective backs to the NFL.
So again I ask, who is looking out for the best interests of the fans? By the looks of things, no one.
And that could turn out to be the biggest fumble in NFL history.
Sincerely,
J.J. Rodriguez