Arkush: "I Don't Think The Owners Could Care Less About The Fans"
There isn't much that can happen now that there's an NFL lockout in place and the NFLPA decertified. The next steps are court rulings.
"The only thing that'll get things moving again is a ruling from the eighth circuit court," Hub Arkush said. "Until then, there's really nothing that can be done by either side."
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It is expected that Judge Doty will rule in favor of the players considering he has in the past. However, Hub disagrees in that expectation.
"The owners would like you to believe that Doty is biased and that he is pro-player," Hub said. "He's ruled for the players because they have been right. Now are they right this time? That I really don't know."
If the players do get their injunction to prevent a lockout, the owners may be more willing to compromise. However, things might move at a slower pace if the lockout stays in place.
"If the players don't get the injunction, the owners are allowed to lock them out," Hub continued to say. "Then I think you're going to have to wait for a few months until there's initial hearings. Something has to happen in the courtroom to get these guys moving."
Despite accusations going back and forth over the lack of an agreement, Hub Arkush says that all 32 owners admit to making money. "Some of them are making obscene amounts of money," he said. "And yet they've asked the players to give up as much as 30% of their income, which could be as much as $5 billion over the next five or seven years and they're not willing to prove there's a need for it."
Hub sees one of two results from the mess in the NFL. Either the owners will open their books to prove they deserve the additional money or they will settle for a deal closer to what they had before.
The NFL players didn't want negotiations to fall apart like they did and damage their sport. "I think this is 100% on the owners," Arkush said. "At least in terms of where we're at right now. I don't think the owners could care less about the fans."
