NFL and Players Union Take Labor Dispute Bickering to Twitter

With a lockout looming, the NFL and its players union have been struggling to reach a new collective bargaining agreement by March 3rd. Both sides have begun using Twitter and other sites to attempt to sway the popular opinion of fans who might not have a sport to watch in 2011.

According to The New York Times, commissioner Roger Goodell sent an e-mail on Wednesday to his staff saying he'd take a $1 salary (a pay cut of about $10 million) if a lockout occurred. Naturally, it was leaked to the NFL Network, and spread quickly across Twitter. To counter, DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the players union, tweeted that he would work for just 68 cents if an agreement was reached by next Sunday's Super Bowl. Naturally, this online posturing doesn't mean a whole lot in reality, since the commish and the executive director aren't hurting for money, and there's just no way a new collective bargaining agreement could be reached before kickoff in Dallas.

There are two points of contention at the center of the labor struggle. The league wants less revenue sharing among teams and to add two more games to the current 16-game regular season. The players union, of course, wants more revenue sharing among teams and believes a 16-game season is long enough. So far, neither side has budged enough to even come close to signing a new collective bargaining agreement.

Some, like Paul Hicks, executive vice president of communications and government relations for the NFL, believes Twitter and other sites can give an advantage to one side or the other. "You need to sell your idea and use every opportunity you can at a speed that is not generally normal in a business environment." But Doug Allen, a former players union executive, told the Times that he doesn't think this online back-and-forth does much to change the balance of power. "It alters the atmosphere, but I'm not sure it changes the leverage on both sides. It would, if one side were doing it and the other weren't." But a large online presence could sway public opinion, which can be a powerful tool in convincing one side to cave to the other side's demands. That's why the league has created a Super Bowl Twitter aggregation page, and the players union displays a lockdown countdown clock on its site.

Despite all this online bickering, the NFL and the players union how much money would be lost and damage done if a lockout occurred, which means they'll keep thumping their chests on the Internet for another couple months. But in the end, an agreement will be reached, and we'll have football in the fall.