The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Editorials

Related Photos

  • cartoon 9-27

    cartoon 9-27

September 26, 2012

Our View: NFL playing a losing game

The Free Press

— One of America's most highly valued and successful businesses has been standing on the sidelines while its franchise is devalued by its own inability to solve a minor problem.

The National Football League was apparently making some progress Wednesday in talks with its referees. Reports indicated the league apparently has struck a deal. But regardless, the impasse has gone on too long.

The NFL had held out for months against its professional referees as replacement officials make bad call after bad call that are quickly eroding confidence of players, coaches, owners and most importantly the fans.

The replacement official fiasco reached epic proportions. It exploded last weekend with replacement officials mistakenly granting San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh not one extra challenge, but two after he used all his timeouts in his game against the Vikings. There was the near assault of a referee by New England coach Bill Belichick. Then there were the two missed plays at the end of the Green Bay-Seattle game that cost Green Bay the win.

After the NFL reviewed the tapes they determined yes, Green Bay should have won because the Seattle player committed offensive pass interference that wasn't called. But then incredulous fans, players and coaches saw a clear interception on the part of Green Bay go to Seattle. More incredibly, the NFL said the play was inconclusive. So the ruling stood and the game went to Seattle.

This officiating incompetence is the biggest threat ever to the NFL brand.

If the NFL's $9 billion in annual revenues could be compared to a pile of money as high as the Empire State Building, the officiating debacle amounts to King Kong taking handfuls of that money and throwing it to the wind.

Fans have been on the verge of boycotting games. The NFL's TV partners can't be happy about that.

And for all this, the NFL appeared to have been holding out to save $5 million a year (five hundredths of a percent) and some minor concessions to the professional referees. Sticking points in the negotiations were about a pension freeze and establishment of a 401(k) for referees. For a business that brings in $9 billion, the concessions seem minor.

But the locked out referees should have realized they've got skin in this game too. They seemed to be holding out for higher salaries and benefits even though some will make up to $200,000 a year for a part-time job under the NFL proposal. They also were opposing the NFL's plan to hire some permanent referees in some kind of turf battle.

But the burden falls mostly on the NFL and its team owners. They've got to see how this has been crippling the league's value and brand. And as players push more and more to see what they can get away with, more are likely to be injured.

It's simple: The NFL needs to settle this problem soon or have its brand reduced to arena league caliber, its players' safety compromised and team values eroded.

 

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Editorials
  • Safety event helped special kids

    May 25, 2013

  • Our View: Stadium gimmick backfires Officials badly misjudged or misled with electronic pulltab financing.

    May 24, 2013

  • Timing still legislative problem One can appreciate the deliberative, legislative process in Minnesota. We can respect the hours and hours of time legislators put in debating important issues. But time management seems to be an issue whatever party reins. This year is no different.

    May 22, 2013

  • Legislature: Vows kept, mistakes made

    There will be plenty for Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL legislative majority to crow about this week after the conclusion of the session Monday night.

    May 21, 2013

  • Our View: Lakes reveal chemical abundance Even if your mother may not have had scientific data at her fingertips, she obviously knew what she was talking about when she said don't drink lake water. A new study makes that advice more important than ever and raises concerns about how we treat

    May 20, 2013

  • Press 'shield law' is a bad idea Press 'shield law' is a bad idea The Obama administration announced last week that it is throwing its support behind the press shield law that has been stalled in Congress since time immemorial. Critics insist that the administration, suddenly mired

    May 19, 2013

  • mfp thumbgraphic Shelter for homeless right start To Mankato civic leaders for, once again, stepping up to address a growing demand for shelter by homeless women. The needs appears to be dramatic and continuing even though the Theresa House, Welcome Inn shelters and the CADA House program for domest

    May 18, 2013 1 Photo

  • Our View: SEC should act on ratings conflicts Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want. Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and

    May 17, 2013

  • Time runs short for Legislature Focus, Minnesota legislators, as you have many details left So much for the theory that one party controlling Minnesota's House, Senate and governor's chair would mean fast work in St. Paul. Exactly one week from the end of the 2013 regular session a

    May 16, 2013

  • records' seizure harms free press This has not been a good week for President Obama. First it was learned that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservative organizations with special scrutiny, the practice of which the White House said it was unaware. Then news surfaced th

    May 16, 2013