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NFL, union spar over revenue figures

Negotiations between the NFL and its players took a confrontational turn Wednesday as the sides publicly sparred over the union's access to league financial data. The dispute, and the fact that it boiled over so publicly, raised significant doubts about whether a new labor deal can be reached by Friday's deadline.

"The information that was offered wasn't what we asked for," DeMaurice Smith said. (Cliff Owen/AP Photo)
"The information that was offered wasn't what we asked for," DeMaurice Smith said. (Cliff Owen/AP Photo)Read more

Negotiations between the NFL and its players took a confrontational turn Wednesday as the sides publicly sparred over the union's access to league financial data. The dispute, and the fact that it boiled over so publicly, raised significant doubts about whether a new labor deal can be reached by Friday's deadline.

The players' insistence on examining detailed NFL financial data has become a key to reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

The league wants to cut the players' share of revenue by $800 million, down from an original request of $1 billion, according to the NFL Players Association. But the union has made it clear it won't budge until it sees documentation showing that the owners need more money. That makes the financial data central to the fight over how to divide the NFL's $9 billion revenue pie, the linchpin issue of the entire CBA dispute.

Eagles president Joe Banner, a member of a subcommittee that assists the owners' labor panel, has been in Washington this week working on several CBA issues. He and Redskins general manager Bruce Allen are the only non-owners helping the league in Washington, according to a league source.

The main focus Wednesday was a skirmish over what evidence the NFL has offered to show that profits are leveling off and choking off investments, as the owners claim.

"The information that was offered wasn't what we asked for," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told reporters in Washington. The union's financial advisers said the information "would be utterly meaningless in making a determination about whether to write an $800 million check," to the league every year.

The NFL offered to turn over five years of league-wide data, but the information did not include team-by-team profits, and it was rejected by the union, according to the Associated Press.

"We've made more information available in the course of this negotiation than has ever been made available in decades of collective bargaining with the NFLPA," said NFL general counsel Jeff Pash, according to the AP. He said the league offered to show the union information that even teams don't get.

But a 2009 NFLPA memo obtained by several media organizations requested audited financial statements for every team, including team-by-team profits.

Separately, the union has asked a federal judge to unseal some evidence regarding the league's contested television contract, the AP reported.

After two extensions, the CBA expires at 11:59 p.m. Friday. Without a new deal or another extension, that day could bring a lockout by the league and decertification by the union.