NFL Lockout: Near Its End?

There was clearly a prevailing air of optimism as NFL owners emerged from six hours of meetings in Chicago yesterday. Over the weekend reports were circulating that the owners were divided among themselves over key issues. That no longer appears to be the case. Passage of a new collective bargainig agreement will require a majority of 24 of the 32 owners to vote "yes". Observers were speculating on monday that opponents would not be able to muster 9 "no" votes.  Jason Cole, of Yahoo Sports reports the date of July 15th is being repatedly bandied about.  If the NFL resumes business by that date, a fee-agent signing period will take place, trainig camps camps will start on time, meaning no loss of pre-season games.  If you've ever purchased NFL season tickets, you know the pre-season games are full price & you have to buy them as part of the package. The owners don't want to lose that revenue. Jason Cole's report quotes one ownership representative as saying,  “At this point, you could probably have the terms drawn up by Friday if you wanted to really hurry the process, but two weeks is probably more realistic."

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