MINNEAPOLIS, March 1 (UPI) -- A judge in Minnesota ruled Tuesday the NFL violated its collective bargaining agreement by negotiating a deal that will pay it TV revenues during a lockout.
In his ruling in favor of NFL players, U.S. District Judge David Doty said the league's $4.8 billion deal with television networks violated the terms of the contract because the league would continue to be paid even if a lockout cancels games in 2011, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.
The ruling robs team owners of crucial leverage as the Thursday deadline for negotiating a new agreement approaches.
The NFL Players Association has asked Doty to place such TV broadcast revenues into an escrow account rather than allow them to be distributed and used as "lockout insurance" by owners.
The league, however, contends its contracts with NBC, Fox, CBS, ESPN and DirecTV have always included work-stoppage clauses.
Doty ordered another hearing to determine whether players are entitled to monetary damages or an injunction to block the NFL from collecting the money, the Pioneer Press reported.
The ruling reversed a decision from arbitrator who found in favor of the NFL.
