Contentious negotiations lead to resignation; The journey to settlement
July 19, 2011
Ross Greenburg of HBO Sports resigns
Ross Greenburg, the President of HBO Sports has resigned. Greenburg spoke of the contentious negotiations with boxing promoters as being one of the reasons for his resignation. The most contentious negotiations may have been with attorney/promoter Bob Arum. Failing to land the Manny Pacquiano fight with Shane Mosley earlier this year added to Greenburg's frustration. It was Arum who took the Pacquiano-Mosley fight to HBO rival Showtime.
The process of a settlement
The process of a settlement
More and more stories talk about the issues that have been resolved between the NFL and NFLPA which should lead to a settlement this week. It was Andre Agassi at the end of his tennis career that spoke of the "process" as being what mattered during the course of the journey. The journey that will eventually end in a new CBA really started months ago. Along the continuum of "process" we've seen the beginning of the lockout, the decertification of the union, the filing of the antitrust suit in Minnesota, and ongoing rhetoric between the two sides.
Is there something an aspiring sports lawyer or law student can learn from this? Yes, understand the process and the steps that have to be taken to achieve a goal, whether it's breaking into the sports law field or reaching a deal on a new CBA.
The 18 game schedule
Back in March one of the issues that received much attention was the 18 game schedule. Over the last few months talk of the 18 game schedule has all but faded away. In fact there was talk of the 18 game schedule as being nothing more than a throwaway even back in March. The following text appeared on March 7 on SLT:
As the NFL-NFLPA CBA negotiations start another week, it might be time to ponder what issues might be a throwaway item that the NFL may make a concession on, in order to get something else to stick. On ESPN's Sports Reporters this Sunday, it was suggested that the NFL's quest for an 18 game season might just be a smoke screen in order to get concessions on even bigger issues. That's a very interesting thought as the NFL has been pumping this up for months now, and the NFLPA has been opposed to the 18 game season all along. So let's watch this and see what direction the NFL takes with it. Many times in a negotiation you may have 3 or 4 items that you let the opposing side know you need, when in reality one or two you can really do without. However, you are careful not to let the other side know that there is a throw away item, so that when you finally concede the issue, you make a big deal of giving it up, expecting something in return
The 18 game schedule
Back in March one of the issues that received much attention was the 18 game schedule. Over the last few months talk of the 18 game schedule has all but faded away. In fact there was talk of the 18 game schedule as being nothing more than a throwaway even back in March. The following text appeared on March 7 on SLT:
As the NFL-NFLPA CBA negotiations start another week, it might be time to ponder what issues might be a throwaway item that the NFL may make a concession on, in order to get something else to stick. On ESPN's Sports Reporters this Sunday, it was suggested that the NFL's quest for an 18 game season might just be a smoke screen in order to get concessions on even bigger issues. That's a very interesting thought as the NFL has been pumping this up for months now, and the NFLPA has been opposed to the 18 game season all along. So let's watch this and see what direction the NFL takes with it. Many times in a negotiation you may have 3 or 4 items that you let the opposing side know you need, when in reality one or two you can really do without. However, you are careful not to let the other side know that there is a throw away item, so that when you finally concede the issue, you make a big deal of giving it up, expecting something in return
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