By Scott Weiss
When NY Giants owner John Mara announced this past Thursday that the Giants would not be requiring fans to send in any season ticket payments until a new CBA was reached, they became the first NFL team to implement such a policy. The rest of the 31 teams are requiring at least partial payment during the lockout, with some teams like the Patriots, requiring full payment.
This is above and beyond the normal disrespect that the NFL owners show toward their loyal fans. To expect fans to send payments into a league that is officially shut down makes no sense. Essentially, the owners are able to utilize these season ticket payments as their own lockout slush fund in their battle with the players.
As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell writes letter after letter to the fans and the players, he sits idly by as the 32 owners implement their inconsistent season ticket payment policies. If he were to have demonstrated any real leadership, he would have immediately called for a uniform policy regarding no season ticket policy payments during the lockout, the day that the league shut down.
As the lockout enters its second week, it is very apparent that the NFL is a ship without a captain. At a time when someone needs to be making decisions for the best interests of the NFL including the owners, players and the fans, the Commissioner is proving to be simply a puppet of the owners.
To be fair to Mr. Goodell, I would like to suggest a more suitable job for him at this time. Because of the excellent writing ability that he has shown in the many letters that he has penned lately, I would like to recommend him for a Sports Writer Fellowship position with Sports Fans Coalition. Mr. Goodell would even receive a sizeable pay increase over the $1 salary he is presently making, and at the same time, he would finally be worth his salary.
Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey and an SFC Sportwriter Fellow. He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000. He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.
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See Also:
- One Player?s Response To Goodell?s Letter
- What The NFL Lockout Could Mean For Advertisers
- NFL, NFLPA Continue To Battle
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