NFL Owners, Players Reportedly Disagree On Revenue Split

The NFL owners and NFL Player’s Association canceled a second day of meeting this week amid a disagreement involving the split of revenue for each side. Though each side has declined to approach the topic, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports Executive Director DeMaurice Smith detailed the disagreements with player representatives on Wednesday night.

Yep, the two sides can’t even agree on how to define certain words. The numbers get a bit confusing but here’s the short version.

Currently, “total revenue” is defined as the $9 billion gross, minus $1 billion in credits the league takes off the top. The “players get 60 percent of the pie” argument you hear means 60 percent of the $8 billion remaining. Without the stadium credit -- or $9 billion -- the players currently get about 50 percent, according to the union.

The NFLPA, according to Mortensen, proposed a 50-50 split on the $9 billion which, for all intents and purposes, is what they’re getting now. This proposal, a union source told Mortensen, would potentially eliminate the union’s request for the league to open their books, a big point of contention right now. The owners, though, are reportedly asking for another billion -- $2 billion total -- in credits before splitting revenues with the players.

If the players accepted the owners proposal -- which at the minimum would require the union to examine the league’s books -- it would be getting about 40 percent of the pie, which NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said last week would be the smallest players’ share by any of the professional sports unions.

Check out Mortensen’s report for the full details but it can’t be considered a positive when the two sides are at least a billion dollars apart at the moment.