Ummm you do realize that your article says the exact same thing I did,
except they spin it to not tell you the percentages current vs owner proposed?
Here, let me illustrate it - and you can check the numbers with what the article did provide if you don't believe me.
2009, the total revenue pot is ~$9 Billion. Under the 2009 CBA,
~$1 billion comes off the top for expenses to the owners, then the owners get a 40% split of the $8 billion that is left and the player pool is the 60% of that $8 billion left.
40% of $8 billion == $3.2 billion
60% of $8 billion == $4.8 billion
So the players got $4.8 billion.
The owners got
$4.2 billion - $1 billion for expenses, $3.2 billion from the pie cutting.
~$4.2 billion =
47% of ~$9 billion
~$4.8 billion =
53% of ~$9 billion
Or in other words,
in terms of the overall revenue, the owners get 47%, the players get 53%. Check the math if you don't believe it.
The owners' first proposal would have given them
~$2 billion off the top for expenses, then the same 40/60 split.
40% of $7 billion == $2.8 billion
60% of $7 billion == $4.2 billion
So there, the players would have gotten
$4.2 billion.
The owners would have gotten
$4.8 billion - $2 billion off the top, then $2.8 billion from the pie.
Using the numbers above, you can see that the situation would have flipped-flopped, m
eaning instead of 47% going to owners, the owners would have gotten 53%, and vice versa for the players.
The players countered with a proposal for a 50/50 split of all revenue. No money off the top, just split the entire thing 50/50, or in 2009, $4.5 billion to the owners & players.
The article you linked tries to spin things in the owners' favor by comparing the '50/50' number to the 60% piece of the pie. They don't directly lie about the numbers, they just show them to you the way they want you to see them.
The 50/50 was most definitely right in the middle of the two offers, and the owners *walked out* in response to that and filed charges against the NFLPA, saying they were not negotiating in good faith. That just makes you go 'wow'...
More updates...
Kevin Mawae, per the twitter world, was quoted as saying over the 15 days of negotiations, they had a total of ~8 hours face time with the NFL owners. Makes sense, as we already knew the owners weren't even showing up for most of those meetings.
D Smith finally responds on the infamous 'final proposal' by the NFL, sharing the previously unknown percentage values. Basically, the NFL wanted the players to start off at
~44% of all revenue ( remember - 2009 was a 47% owners, 53% players split ) and have that number
decrease over the coming years to
40%.