“Being Asked To Handle A Radioactive Dog Turd …” Networks, Fans Face Possibility Of NFL Lockout

But it seems possible ― even likely ― that next Sunday's Super Bowl could be the last time we get to watch an NFL game on television this year, as the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players will expire on March 4. Both sides refuse to budge on the issues, and it's looking more and more likely that a lockout will happen.

Most of us are old enough to remember the baseball strike of 1994. It took years for Major League Baseball to recover from that, as disgusted fans turned elsewhere for entertainment. A similar situation could be in the offing for the NFL.

Fans won't long tolerate such utter foolishness. That much we know.

But the fans aren't the only ones who would be hurt by a lockout; so would the TV networks. In their contracts with the NFL, the networks are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars this year ... whether any games are played or not. They still have to pay.

So it's understandable, as Mediaweek's Anthony Crupi wrote yesterday, that as they face this potential financial disaster, the networks do so "with all the enthusiasm of someone being asked to handle a radioactive dog turd."

It's really a no-win situation for everyone. With no games to watch, viewers will find other entertainment options. With no viewers, advertisers will pull back from what would have been substantial ad buys (Crupi estimates a wipeout in the neighborhood of $3 billion). And without that revenue, the networks have to cough up a combined $4 billion to the NFL, which means they'll have to take that money from somewhere ... probably from funds set aside for other programming.

If the NFL and the players' union are smart, they'll clean up this mess before it has a chance to go radioactive. But at this point, I don't hold out much hope.