NFL MEETINGS Owners, union still battling over money

Commissioner Paul Tagliabue says talks are currently at a "dead end."
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Talks to extend the NFL contract are "at a dead end," commissioner Paul Tagliabue told NFL owners Monday.
In this case, disagreement on how to earmark the money designated for the players seems to be centered as much among the owners as between the league and the NFL Players Association.
Tagliabue used that daunting term "dead end" in his state of the league speech to open the owners meetings, and said he might call a special meeting for April 19 to try to resolve it.
Tagliabue would not concede when talking to reporters that internal squabbles have stalled talks. But it was evident from the owners that the simmering contention between high-revenue and low-revenue teams has contributed as much to the impasse as a division between the union and the league.
"The union is asking for a lot of money," said Dan Rooney, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the have-not teams. "We can't get to that because of where we are among ourselves."
Two basic issues
There appear to be two basic issues, one between the union and the league, the other among the owners themselves.
The issue involving the union is the percentage of the money to go to the players, who currently get 64 percent of what is termed "designated gross revenue" -- the money that comes from television, ticket prices and other basic revenues.
The players want that same percentage, but with the pool expanded to include "total football revenue." That would include money from local revenues, including advertising and local marketing deals made by teams such as Dallas, which has its own deal with Pepsi.
The league wants to cut that percentage to reflect debt service on new stadiums, which Tagliabue says is as much as 4 or 5 percent of a total revenue figure he estimated could go to $600 billion after the full new television deal is completed.
High-revenue teams
The squabble among the owners involves how much the high-revenue teams with new stadiums or other sources of money -- Washington, Dallas, Houston, New England and Philadelphia among them -- put into that pool.
"We have to be open-minded about that," said Stephen Jones, Jerry Jones' son and the chief operating officer of the Cowboys.
Even though the labor contract doesn't expire until 2008, there is a sense of urgency about these negotiations, the most contentious since the current deal was signed in 1992. Since then, it has been extended several times with minimal contention.
In part that's because under the terms of the deal, 2007 would become a year without a salary cap, something that could create havoc, especially if the richer teams decide to spend wildly on free agents.
Under those circumstances, it might make it hard to bring back a cap, something the low-revenue teams especially would dread.
Tagliabue said he would continue to talk with Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFLPA, and other union representatives, then call the special owners meeting if progress had been made.
Upshaw, who is on vacation in Hawaii, did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.
Most outspoken owners
The dispute among the owners has been going on for several years and was a major point of contention at last March's meetings. Rooney, Jim Irsay of Indianapolis and Ralph Wilson of Buffalo have been among the most outspoken of the have-not owners.
Rooney, who in the past has been used by both Tagliabue and the late commissioner Pete Rozelle to help seal deals with the union, didn't seem optimistic.
"At this point, I'm not sure we can get anything out of what we have," he said. "To get anything done, people have to have a gun to their head and I don't think we're there yet."
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