On the eve of the 2010 NFL regular season, the head of the players' union reiterated his belief that the league is headed for a lockout in 2011. "I still feel that a lockout is coming in March," NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith told Bloomberg News. The NFL and the NFLPA have several issues to negotiate, including the amount of the league's revenue going to players, an 18-game schedule, expanded drug testing and a rookie wage scale before a new collective bargaining agreement can be reached. In the deal the NFL opted out of after last season, players received approximately 60 percent of revenue after $1 billion was kept by the owners. The NFL wants to increase that amount to $2 billion to help with the increasing costs of stadium construction and operations. "If this model is not working, i.e. teams are losing money, then we're willing to see the evidence of that and make the changes," Smith told Bloomberg News. "But prove it. If not, what's the justification for getting a billion back from us?" Source: ESPN.com
