Winston Helps NFL Players Get Their Fair Share

Extending its winning streak for the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), Winston & Strawn scored another major victory when an arbitrator ruled that the National Football League (NFL) and its owners had improperly excluded substantial revenues from the calculation of the NFL salary cap, which is based on the players sharing increased revenues.

Under the governing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the players, there are specific limited categories of exempt revenue that may be excluded when calculating the annual salary cap when those revenues are used to support new or renovated stadium projects. Despite negotiating for only a handful of these exemptions, the NFL claimed it could actually exclude regular gate receipts, for which it had not bargained in the CBA. The NFLPA warned that this violated the express provisions of the CBA and subsequently initiated an arbitration to enforce the contract language.

The arbitrator agreed with the NFLPA in a ruling issued from the bench, holding the NFL could not justify its actions as a straightforward matter of contract interpretation. As a result, the NFLPA was awarded retroactive and prospective relief that will return substantial revenues to the players and protect them going forward.

The Winston & Strawn team was led by Partners Jeffrey Kessler and David Feher.