An underlying theme of the NFL’s push to get an early renewal of the collective bargaining agreement is to strike while the economy is hot and a surfeit of media companies — traditional and streamers — are clamoring for more NFL games.
Then came Monday’s 1,031-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average as fears about the coronavirus upending the global economy spooked the markets. The equity swoon comes as the NFLPA’s leadership meets with key NFL owners Tuesday in a high-stakes faceoff, apparently to seek added concessions in management’s proposal with a deadline looming. Owners are sure to use Monday’s market swoon as exhibit A in the dangers of waiting longer or giving more.
Already, top NFL officials, a key source said, have been nervously watching the market plunge of Viacom since it merged with AFC broadcaster CBS, dropping from about $30 billion market capitalization on the Dec. 4 merger of the two companies to less than $20 billion.
