AFL Owners Cancel 2000 Season
(February 25, 2000)

After a two day marathon meeting in Chicago, the Arena Football League owners decided to cancel the 2000 season. Late last night, the league issued a short press release.

"We understand that a majority of Arena Football League players have requested that Local 781 of the Teamsters in Chicago act as the exclusive bargaining representative of all Arena Football League players."

"We further understand that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCWU) has sought to interfere with the players expressed wishes by urging the Teamsters to cease their organizing efforts. Under the present circumstances and with deep regret, the AFL owners have voted, in light of the antitrust lawsuit commenced against the league, to cancel the 2000 season."

Some aspects of the situation are very familiar. The players want more compensation and better benefits, while the owners claim they are losing money. The fact that the league wanted the players to form a union is an unusual twist. Lets look at what has brought us to this point.

Things started to heat up when the players filed litigation against the league owners. On February 3, several players filed a class action antitrust lawsuit in the United States District Court in Newark, New Jersey. The suit alleges illegal practices that eliminate competition and fixes the terms of employment for players services. On February 21, in Tampa, the players filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The owners are accused of attempting to coerce players into joining a labor union in an attempt to circumvent antitrust laws.

Plenty of claims and counter-claims will be presented in coming days, as all sides spew their spin and play the blame game. The AFL press release seems to indicate what transpired over the owners meetings. The forces behind the lawsuits have formed the AFL Players Association, which is not a union, but it does have the support of the UFCWU. With the help of the Teamsters Union, the players in favor of the collective bargaining alternative attempted to form a union and save the season. It seems that the UFCWU convinced the Teamsters to withdraw its organizing efforts. With litigation still hanging, and unionization efforts failing, the owners canceled the season.

This not the NFL. The primary compensation out of the much heralded TV deal is in publicity, not cash. Team owners are not yet making money. The Tampa Bay Storm, one of the league's more successful franchises, almost relocated due to financial losses. The lawsuits did force the owners to consider improving benefits and collective bargaining with the players. In reality, the players had already won.

After thirteen seasons, these should have been the best of times. There was the new TV deal, NFL owners buying into the league, expansion, additional exposure from the Kurt Warner story and plenty of potential. However, that potential may never be realized and the survival of the league is at stake.

Is this the final word on the AFL 2000 season? There certainly are plenty of unanswered questions. There is also a report, or rumor, that the owners have given the players 48 hours to change their minds. The final word on all this may be "stupidity."