By Michael Heilman

On Thursday, three-fourths of the NFL owners accepted the newly negotiated terms of the collective bargaining agreement in the first stage of the new CBA. Now it’s the player’s associations turn.

Under the new CBA, one preseason game would be eliminated while the regular-season would increase from sixteen games to seventeen games. This would take effect in the 2021 season. What would also take effect for next season is a new playoff format that would increase the number of teams to fourteen, seven for each conference with one team getting a bye, and six wildcard games. Player’s share revenue would increase from 47% to 48.5%. While talks are on-going between the NFL owners and the NFLPA, not everyone is on board like Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt, who took to twitter saying “Hard no on that proposed CBA.”

Hard no on that proposed CBA. — JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 21, 2020

While eliminating one preseason game might not be a big deal for some people, it is detrimental to those players trying to make a roster spot. Luckily for them, there are other leagues that they can play in, like the CFL, XFL, and IFL. While both parties remain in contact, there is a chance that the NFL could have a lockout next year if they don’t get a new CBA done.

That’s where another group comes in that should have an input on the current negotiations, and that is the fans. After all, they pay for the stadiums to be built, tickets, parking, concession stands, merchandise, buying sponsor products, etc. Fans should have an input on the negotiations, especially season-ticket holders. Fans are already paying big-time money to see their favorite teams play every Sunday.

The fans should have a representative there as part of the negotiations to communicate with the NFL owners and the NFL Players Association on their thoughts on the new CBA. While fans love football, there comes a time, especially late into the season, if your team is out of the playoff race, there would be an extra game to watch that would really not mean anything. Some fans by then, have already tuned out of watching the games and are already looking ahead towards next season. On the other side, the NFL owners want one more game and one more team in the playoffs to get more money out of your pocket.

The fans should have the right to know what is going on so they can decide if they are willing to put out more money for the extra games. Just one extra game could mean a higher cost for season tickets, and cable subscriptions would charge more for bringing you those additional games.

Every fan should be able to see both sides of the negotiation table in any sport, so they know what is going on and what they could expect once a new CBA is passed. NFL owners and the NFL Players Association should stop leaking information out to the public and instead include the fans as part of the negotiation table; after all they want us to know; otherwise, they would not have leaked the information we do know.