FanPost

NFL Fan Association

Strictly a "what-if" scenario...

A lot of commentators have complained that it's the fans who are the real losers in the current labor dispute between the league and the players.The problem is that neither labor nor management really cares about the customers. The fans want to be a third party in this dispute, but both sides know (or think they know, anyway) that once an agreement is hammered out, football will come back and the fans will come back with it. The reality is that for the fans to have a place at the table, they have to buy their way in.

So here's what I want to know: If there were a national "NFL Fan Association," with an annual membership fee of, let's say, $20, would enough people join to provide it with a meaningful war chest? And if the NFLFA could dispose of, let's say, $50 million annually, how best to spend it? The threat of boycotts doesn't seem to faze either side...so instead of stick, why not try carrot? What if the association gave out 32 annual awards, one per team, of a million dollars per? Would players be less likely to behave like thugs or spoiled children if they knew bonuses were on the line? Would the teams, or the league as a whole, take fan input more seriously if we "put our money where our mouths were"? Would the media, and its self-serving post-season awards, come to mean less than those of the fan association (since they didn't also come with a check)?

What about sponsorship? Pepsi is the "Official Soft Drink of the NFL"...but so what? That's about 1700 players and probably not more than three times (?) that number of support personnel. Wouldn't Pepsi rather be the "Official Soft Drink of NFL Fans"? Wouldn't any company rather have the endorsement of (in this scenario) 25,000,000 people? And would the NFL listen to that kind of clout?

Then there's issues like health benefits for former players. If the owners have a moral obligation to provide coverage for former employees (I don't agree that they do), what about the fans whose Sunday entertainment demanded the sacrifice of those players' bodies? If anyone should help support the walking wounded of the NFL, surely it's the fans? And wouldn't the corporate sponsorship of Pepsi (or Coke) and Toyota and Reebok and Coors and TD Ameritrade etc etc etc pay handsomely for such benefits (to the enormous marketing advantage of those firms)?

In short: could we buy our way in?

If not, why not? And if so...why not?

This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.

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