NFL to begin hiring replacement refs in case of strike
PHOENIX (March 29) -- NFL owners are "alarmed" by the state of negotiations with the NFL Referees Association and have authorized staff members to begin hiring and onboarding replacement officials in the coming weeks, league sources said Sunday at the start of the league meetings.
The NFL began compiling a list of college-level officials to recruit earlier this month, and owners are expected this week to approve a sweeping set of replay enhancements to support replacement officials in preseason and regular-season games. A league source said that training of the new replacement officials will begin May 1.
SNIP
In a statement to multiple media outlets, NFLRA executive director Scott Green called out league sources for putting out "false and misleading information."
"The bottom line is our officials work for the wealthiest sports league in America, with profits that far exceed any of the others," Green said. "That's normally a point of pride for the NFL. However, our officials are substantially under-compensated when compared to baseball and basketball umpires and referees. Our officials also aren't provided the health care benefits that those at 345 Park Avenue have."
MORE: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48344034/nfl-begin-hiring-replacement-officials-given-state-negotiations-nfl-referees-association
NFL Players Association supports referees in CBA negotiations with NFL
APRIL 1: NFL player safety requires "trained, professional officials on the field," NFL Players Association executive director JC Tretter said Wednesday in a statement to support the ongoing contract negotiations between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association.
(After) meeting Tuesday with NFLRA executive director Scott Green, Tretter made clear that the players' union does not support the idea of replacement officials.
"[Officials] manage the game in real time, enforce the rules, and stop situations from escalating," Tretter said. "That can't be replaced by less experienced crews or handled remotely. If player safety truly matters, trained professional officials on the field are not negotiable."
According to a joint news release, Tretter and Scott agreed that the risk of player injury will rise because "less experienced officials are more likely to miss calls or respond late in critical moments."
LINK: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48370278/nflpa-supports-referees-cba-negotiations-nfl
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Just pay the refs.
= new reply since forum marked as read
