Judge rules against NFL on TV money

WASHINGTON - U.S. District Court Judge David Doty Tuesday issued a potentially pivotal ruling against the NFL regarding a $4-billion deal for television revenue.

After a four-day recess, negotiations between the league and the NFL Players Association resumed at 1 p.m. before federal mediator George Cohen. Talks ended shortly before 8, and negotiators quickly left the building without comment. More discussions were scheduled for Wednesday.

Earlier, the union received welcome news from Doty, who ruled in Minneapolis that the league violated its agreement with the union by setting aside $4 billion in TV money from recently negotiated contracts.

Doty overruled special master Stephen Burbank's decision that sided with the NFL. The union had argued that the league essentially was squirreling away money to prepare for a lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires Thursday at midnight. Doty ordered a hearing held to determine damages for the players. A date wasn't scheduled.

In a statement, the NFL said: "As we have frequently said, our clubs are prepared for any contingency, this decision included. [Doty's] ruling will have no effect on our efforts to negotiate a new, balanced labor agreement."

The league is expected to appeal the ruling, and it remains to be seen whether the decision will affect negotiations.

The NFLPA hailed Doty's ruling as a major victory.

"This ruling means there is irrefutable evidence that owners had a premeditated plan to lock out players and fans for more than two years,'' union spokesman George Atallah said in a statement. "The players want to play football. That is the only goal we are focused on.''

Also clouding this week's talks is the threat of decertification by the union. There were strong indications over the weekend that the NFLPA planned to disband before the CBA expires, which would effectively end bargaining and give players a chance to air their grievances through the courts.

All the key participants in the negotiations were on hand, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell; the league's lead negotiator, Jeff Pash; NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith and top union negotiator Jeffrey Kessler. One notable addition to the talks was Giants co-owner John Mara, the first owner to get involved in face-to-face negotiations before Cohen.

Mara has been a voice of moderation, similar to the role his late father, Wellington, once played in labor negotiations. But it's uncertain whether Mara can turn the tide of the talks, because little substantive progress has been made, even with Cohen prodding the sides to come to an agreement on the pivotal issues.

The main sticking point is how to share approximately $9 billion in annual revenues. The union is seeking to split them on a 50-50 basis, while the league wants to take $2 billion off that figure to apply to costs, including stadium construction.

Other areas of disagreement: expanding the regular season from 16 to 18 games while reducing the preseason from four to two games, benefits for retired players and a rookie wage scale.

"We want the fans to know that we're trying. We're trying," Pash said before he went into yesterday's meetings. "We understand our responsibility, and if we don't get it done, we know that we'll have let them down. And we take that very seriously. So do our owners."

The owners are scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday in northern Virginia to discuss the status of the negotiations, and possibly approve a lockout. It's also possible the talks could be extended if progress is being made.