The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that the Arena Football League is "closing in on a new collective bargaining agreement with its players union. The new deal, expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, is likely to cut the players' share of revenues substantially. But without the change, owners were not willing to revive the operation."
The AFL canceled the 2009 season back in December because of financial issues and at the time, there was talk about moving single-entity ownership structure -- where one investor group would own the league and all its teams. If the Wall Street Journal report is correct, the league looks like it will be able to hang on without such a draconian move.
That's good news for the sport's efforts to be taken seriously as a competitive game. A league where all the teams are owned by the same people -- as opposed to the franchise model that is currently used by all the majors sports leagues -- is a bit of a joke and has more in common with the WWE than the NFL.
Aiding the league's efforts to secure concessions from the union is that it's arena football, and many of the players have few options for continuing their careers outside of the league. During the NHL lockout many of the athletes headed overseas and earned handsome salaries, so there was less of a sense of urgency in getting a deal done.
In any case, this is good news for the AFL's fans. In spite of its financial woes, ESPN's stake in the league has provided it with unprecedented TV coverage and a real shot as capitalizing on the demand for football during the NFL-less months.
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