Crunch time approaches for the NFL

NFL owners and players enter this week facing the most significant deadline yet of the league's four-month-old lockout.

Months of public wrangling and legal brawling have produced reams of press releases, court documents, and news stories, but none of it has affected actual football.

Yet.

That could change if a labor deal isn't soon reached. Most observers believe that the sides need to reach an agreement on or about July 15 in order to save the NFL's full slate of preseason games, scheduled to begin with the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7.

While preseason games might mean little to most fans - and Eagles followers are probably particularly uninterested in the scheduled August opener between the Bears and Rams - the events bring in ticket money, which makes them a piece of the revenue pie at the center of the labor dispute, and therefore an important issue in the talks over a new collective bargaining agreement.

Last week, as talks continued, a deal was widely believed to be within reach.

On Saturday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, who has mediated recent talks between owners and players, issued an order for the sides to appear before him July 19 in Minneapolis, providing perhaps another deadline to work toward.

While Boylan is set to begin a vacation, owners and players are expected to resume talks this week, possibly to work out a deal before they return to Minnesota.

With training camps looming, some teams have already decided to cancel their stays at their traditional training sites and instead expect to practice at their normal home facilities. The Eagles have not decided yet if they will be able to train at Lehigh.

Since the beginning of the labor dispute, these are the days that have loomed as critical for the season. Neither side stood to lose very much in March or April or May.

No games were canceled, no tickets refunded. The more than $9 billion of revenue from television and tickets and everything else that goes into the most powerful league in American sports was largely unharmed.

Even before the lockout began, observers said both sides would test their muscles in court, then, in July and possibly August, get down to business.

In recent weeks, they have. Optimism began building in late June, and in the last several days the sides, meeting in New York, have been reported to have made progress on how to divide NFL revenue, the central issue in the entire dispute. If that concern is resolved, other issues could quickly fall into place, and, for the first time in months, there is a real, monetary reason to sort out the question now. The league generates about $200 million a week in the preseason, according to the Washington Post.

Despite increasing hope for a deal, obstacles remain.

Exactly how close the sides are to a deal is unclear. Reports have varied. As in any negotiation, talks can break down at any time. A court ruling Friday that allowed the lockout to remain in place added another wrinkle, though the league and players Friday issued a joint statement pledging to resolve their differences through negotiation, perhaps adding a touch more of a reason to be hopeful.

A deal that comes a few days after July 15 might still leave enough flexibility for a fast free-agency period and preparations for the Aug. 7 game. The rest of the league, including the Eagles, is scheduled to begin preseason play Aug. 11-15, leaving slightly more time for the rest of the teams to prepare.