The 2009 NFL Season...

…will be the last "normal" one for a year or two. The 2010 season looks like it will be uncapped.

A lockout looms less than two years from now, and owners no longer view the loss of games as unthinkable.

The players are not just going to give up their 60% of total revenues without something(s) in return. As for the owners:

...their argument is this: The increase in the cost of running a franchise is outpacing the rise in revenue, squeezing profits, and a new deal must include some accounting for the debt and risks owners incur, instead of being based solely on gross revenue.

If we have an uncapped 2010 season, I wonder how many owners will break from their fellow owners and go on a spending spree. Owners like Jones and Snyder come to mind. Especially they believer their team is a Super Bowl contender in 2010. At the other end of the spectrum, which owners might just have a fire sale? I think there will be a lockout after 2010. The question in my mind is whether there will be a full season in 2012. I hope football does not pull an NHL, but the two sides are not headed for any easy resolution.

Sad: Jacksonville Jags may sell so few tix for games in 2010 that every home game is blacked out in the local area. That's the sort of thing that gets an owner thinking about moving, but the days of huge giveaways from towns desperate for a team are over. Voters don't like footing the bill for billion dollar businesses that don't bring many jobs to the area…
- posted by john @ 2:34 PM