The NFL is Back

I was very happy to hear that the NFL lockout was over, and I have been avidly reading the sports section of the newspapers. I normally read the business section, but this week I could not bear to read the discussion about the debt ceiling any longer, and it was good to go straight to the sport pages. While attending the National Bureau for Economic Research (NBER) Summer Institute last week, I startled a few economists with my conversations about football; I enjoyed that!

There are four things I like about the agreement that was reached last week:

1) Players’ safety and health. The agreement limits on-field practice time and contact. Importantly, it limits full-contact practice in the preseason and regular season. Who needs concussions? I was appalled at the statistics about injuries among football players when I read them. These are serious issues and I frankly wonder why it took so long to worry about players’ safety. This discussion has already trickled down to college football, and I was very happy to see that the Ivy League colleges have also adopted a limit to football practices to reduce head injuries. Importantly, the new agreement provides enhanced injury-protection benefits and an opportunity for current players to remain in the player medical plan for life. It also set up a fund for medical research, health care programs, and NFL Charities. These are smart features; a big thumbs up.

2) Benefits for retired players. The agreement provides additional funding for retiree benefits and sets up a fund to increase the pensions of pre-1993 retirees. This is also a good and needed program. The career of players is often very short (and cut short by injuries as well) and it is hard to accumulate a good pension during a short career (let alone think about pensions when one is 22!). We have read too many stories of players running out of money after they stop playing, and it is important to find ways to provide for the players’ future. Another thumbs up.

3) Improvements to career transition and degree-completion programs. Because, as already mentioned above, the career of players is short, it is important to provide help in their career transitions. Players have very specific skills that can be used well in sports but also in other fields, but they need help in translating those skills or simply in being connected to other fields. Some players have not completed their college education and, given the returns to higher education, it is beneficial to facilitate and help players finish their degrees. A thumbs up here as well.

4) Sharing among players. To those who believe players are greedy and want absurdly high wages, I would like to point out there are absurdly high amounts of money on the table, and the projections are for high growth in that money in the future as well. In fact, players have agreed not only to a stricter salary cap but a new fund will also be created to redistribute savings from the new rookie pay system to current and retired-player benefits and a veteran-player performance pool. And we have now heard news about Peyton Manning staying with the Colts but passing up being the highest paid player in NFL history. This will allow the Colts more flexibility to sign other players. This is the statement Manning made: “Whether I deserve to be the highest-paid player over the next five years is irrelevant. I would rather them use the money and keep the players they want to keep and get other players.” One thumbs up to Peyton Manning. Another thing I want to remind readers is that players donate generously. Many have their own charities and are very sensitive to social issues related, for example, to poverty, education, and discrimination. Because of that spillover, I would have preferred to see more rather than less money going to the players.

But the best news is that we will be able to go see the games. I am getting ready to not only watch them on TV but to go to the stadium. As for the other lockout (about the debt ceiling), I think politicians could learn a thing or two from the NFL.