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Sources: Owners mulling big share for players

NFL owners were briefed in a meeting in Rosemont, Ill., yesterday on discussions for a new CBA that would net the players just under 50 percent of total revenues, according to sources.

NFL owners were briefed in a meeting in Rosemont, Ill., yesterday on discussions for a new CBA that would net the players just under 50 percent of total revenues, according to sources.

Next up: more talks with the players in the Boston area.

Several people with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his labor committee will meet with players association chief DeMaurice Smith today and tomorrow. The owners spent 5 hours yesterday getting updated on various CBA issues. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are supposed to be confidential.

"We're going to meet with them soon and we're eager to accelerate the pace of the negotiations," said Jeff Pash, the league's chief negotiator.

"We have a lot of work to do and we've got to do it right," Goodell added. "The agreement has to focus on several issues and the issues are complex. It must be done in a way that is fair to the players and a way that is fair to the clubs."

Sources told ESPN.com that the players would get 48 percent of all revenue, without the $1-billion-plus credit off the top that had been a point of contention in earlier negotiations,."

A source told the AP that the players' share would approach 50 percent. That person also said the expense credits - about $1 billion last year - that the league takes off the top would disappear.

Also, there would no longer be "designated revenues" from which the players would share, the person said. Instead, the players would share from the entire pie, which they project will grow significantly over the course of the new CBA, which is expected to run anywhere from 6 to 10 years.

A salary floor keeping teams within 90 percent of the cap also would be included. The players have been concerned that some teams whose revenue streams don't match up with the richer clubs would try to hold down salary spending.

"It was a good day in the sense of we had a full discussion on the issues," Goodell said.

Goodell was asked if there was a consensus among owners, to which he replied that "is a little deceiving because we don't have an agreement" with the players."

Both sides appear eager to find common ground for a new CBA rather than going back into court. A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering the league's appeal of a lower-court injunction that originally blocked the lockout. That injunction is on hold, and a ruling could come any time.

The lockout began March 12. Training camps are scheduled to open in late July.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations told the AP the players made economic concessions over the last 3 weeks of "secret" talks on both revenue percentage and on future stadium credits; many NFL teams have heavy debt from stadium construction.

Other items, such as a rookie wage scale and health benefits, have been discussed in those owner-player meetings, but won't be settled until the revenue split is determined, the person added.

Asked how close an agreement might be, neither Goodell nor Pash would put a timetable on it.

"I have no idea," Pash said. "We have to spend a significant amount of time with the players. There's a lot of work to be done for both parties. I don't think there's any way to say it's close or not close."

Noteworthy

* Super Bowl ticketholders displaced during the seating fiasco at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, in February said in a court filing they should be compensated for lost income on top of the other expenses they incurred.

Ticketholders who lost their seats or had obstructed views "at a very minimum" should be paid for lost income suffered as a result of traveling to the stadium, according to a document filed in response to a motion by the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL seeking to dismiss the class-action lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed after 1,250 temporary seats were declared unsafe just hours before the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It says 475 ticketholders were forced to watch from standing-room locations while others were relocated, causing them to miss part of the game won by Green Bay.

* According to a report, authorities have decided not to file felony charges against former Chicago Bears running back Garrett Wolfe, who was arrested in Miami Beach, Fla. last month for allegedly refusing to pay a bar tab of close to $1,600 at a nightclub.

ESPNChicago.com, citing a source familiar with the case, reported that Wolfe still faces a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officers without violence during the May 22 incident.