In news that should come as a surprise to no one, the owners are reportedly well-prepared to let the NFL Lockout drag into the regular season, and have a contingency plan to play an eight-game season if necessary.
The shortening of the season would undoubtedly alienate the fans further, but at this point the fans just don’t have much to do with the business of sports, as much as they’d like to think they do. With TV contracts reaching staggering amounts of money, advertising deals left and right, and large suites with corporations, fans have become the wrong part of the 20-80 principle.
Thus, the robber barons will continue their quest for more money unopposed by any logical reason, and if that means they act short-sighted and forget that the fans are the reason any of those things are popular in the first place, so be it. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has monitored these proceedings. The owners are all for themselves on this deal.