The National Football League Players Association is demanding to see the financial records of the 32 owners and the league before progress can be made on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith has asked the league to provide him with each of the 32 franchise’s financial data including total operating income, total operating expenses, profits from operation, net income, cash reserves and investment instruments.
The only problem with Smith’s insistence that the owners provide the union with detailed financial information is that he obviously doesn’t understand it isn’t any of his business.
Contrary to what Smith and all of the players he represents want to believe, not one of them is entitled to see the financial records of the owners.
Moreover, as employees of the 32 teams, not one of them has a financial stake in the ownership of the club. And Smith isn’t even an employee of the NFL or any of it’s 32 franchises.
There isn’t an employee in the United States that could demand to see the financial records of his employer and keep their job.
For that matter, there isn’t a union in the country that can demand to see the books of the company they’re negotiating a contract with.
The NFL isn’t a publicly traded entity, and neither are the 32 franchises in the league. It’s true the league and its franchises are incorporated, but that does not make their financial records a matter of public record.
I don’t want anyone to think I’m taking the owners side in its position regarding the negotiation of a new CBA, but I am supporting the owner’s right to keep their financial information private.
About the only valid argument I can think of to see the financial records of an NFL franchise would be from taxpayers that voted to approve the sale of bonds to fund the construction of a new stadium.
In that regard, the voters have more rights to see the financial records than the players do.
I can appreciate the NFLPA’s desire to see the financial data of the franchises, especially when the owners have suggested they aren’t making enough money to maintain their operations.
But wanting ain’t getting, and in this case the NFLPA definitely ain’t getting the owners financial statements.
In the end, the players are going to lose the battle in their quest to see the league’s financial records, and the fans will ultimately be the biggest losers.
