Dave Zirin: NFL Owners Want Socialism for Them but Capitalism for Players

Dave Zirin: NFL Owners Want Socialism for Them but Capitalism for Players

Dave Zirin: NFL Owners Want Socialism for Them but Capitalism for Players

Will the labor dispute between NFL players and owners lead to a lockout?

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Will the labor dispute between NFL players and owners lead to a lockout? The Nation’s Dave Zirin joined former Denver Broncos player Nate Jackson on MSNBC’s The Dylan Ratigan Show to examine the options. If the owners force a lockout, Zirin says, players would lose access to team medical facilities and team trainers, a disastrous proposition. One player’s pregnant wife recently induced labor to make sure their child’s birth would be covered under player health benefits.

The owners, Zirin says, would like an agreement that is "socialism for the rich" and "capitalism for the fans and players." NFL owners are some of "the wealthiest, most well-connected people on the planet," while players come from "poor socioeconomic backgrounds," typically play three and a half years and die twenty years before the average American male.

What’s more, "the fans pay for stadiums with tax dollars," Zirin says, but they can’t even afford to buy tickets to the games. He says fans make the game go around and should have more voice in determining what happens.

—Kevin Gosztola

Thank you for reading The Nation!

We hope you enjoyed the story you just read, just one of the many incisive, deeply-reported articles we publish daily. Now more than ever, we need fearless journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media.

Throughout this critical election year and a time of media austerity and renewed campus activism and rising labor organizing, independent journalism that gets to the heart of the matter is more critical than ever before. Donate right now and help us hold the powerful accountable, shine a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug, and build a more just and equitable future.

For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth, justice, and moral clarity. As a reader-supported publication, we are not beholden to the whims of advertisers or a corporate owner. But it does take financial resources to report on stories that may take weeks or months to properly investigate, thoroughly edit and fact-check articles, and get our stories into the hands of readers.

Donate today and stand with us for a better future. Thank you for being a supporter of independent journalism.

Thank you for your generosity.

Ad Policy
x