Judges want NFL lockout solution

US judges have urged NFL players and team owners to sought out their differences, to avoid a ruling ‘both sides aren’t going to like’.

As the labour battle shifted from the bargaining table to the courtroom, judges have called for a mutual agreement to be reached between the two sides as the league lockout continues to threaten the opening of the 2011-12 season.

Judge Kermit Bye told attorneys last week the ruling will not be a favourable one for both parties.

The dispute centres on how to fairly divide US$9billion in revenue which makes up the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

US District Judge Susan Richard Nelson has scheduled a hearing on the owners’ motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit from a group of players for September 12 this year.

A number of players including superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees filed the antitrust lawsuit against the owners, alleging their lockout of the players is illegal.

But the date Judge Nelson has set for the hearing could potentially overshadow the start of the regular season, which is set to start four days’ prior to the scheduled hearing.

NFL administration hope the opening game of the season between the New Orleans Saints and last season’s Super Bowl champions the Green Bay Packers will be a showpiece game to mark the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Initially, Judge Nelson ruled in favour of the players – requiring the league to lift the lockout and let the players get back to work, but the ruling was challenged in a St. Louis court.

Already the lockout has caused disruption to the teams’ pre-season training camps, as well as delaying the trading and free agency period.

NFL training camps are scheduled to begin in just two months, and the owners have until August 1 to file their legal documents in support of their motion.