"The Lockout" in layman's terms...

First of all, what is a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)?


Basically, a CBA is an agreement between players and owners that sets out the rules that they must abide by when contracting with each other. In general, a CBA allows unions to collectively (i.e, all union members together) bargain for specific rights from their employer. In this case, the union, NFL Players Association (NFLPA), had a Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Owners. This agreement expired between the 2010 and 2011 NFL season. Therefore, there are no "rules" by which players and owners must abide.

Without a CBA in place, the NFL season cannot move forward because there is no agreement between the employees (players) and the employers (owners). Some of the primary issues at dispute are: free agency rules, the splitting of the $9 billion in annual revenue, the number of regular season games, increasing transparency of how the league's expenditures, and rookie compensation.

What is an Injunction? 

An injunction can either prevent someone (or in this case an organization or group of people) from doing something or force them to do something. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) wants to enjoin, or prevent, the NFL Owners from "locking out" the players until a new Collective Bargain Agreement can be reached. There are a few key elements that must be must in order for a Judge to grant a temporary injunction to the NFLPA:

• There must be a likelihood of irreparable injury to the NFLPA (i.e., if the NFLPA had to wait for a full hearing, between now and then, he would suffer irreparable injury).
• The Judge must determine that the NFLPA is likely to succeed when the full hearing eventually takes place.
• The balance of potential hardships must weigh in the NFLPA's favor.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson had ruled in favor of the NFLPA and granted an injunction, ordering an immediate end to lockout. HOWEVER, the Owners immediately appealed, and the Appeals Court granted a temporary stay to the injunction only days later.

What does a "stay" to the injunction mean?

Essentially, a stay to an injunction puts the injunction on hold until an Appeals Court can make a decision as to whether Judge Nelson overstepped her boundaries. Until then, the lockout remains in place and there must be no communication between the players and the NFL teams.

The Holdings

Motion for prliminary injunction on 4/25/2011

Defendants’ Expedited Motion to Stay Pending Appeal on 4/27/2011