Is athlete endorsement money drying up? Ever since Tiger Woods split with GM last week, there is concern among super-wealthy athletes that they might have to start settling for earning just the millions they get for playing their sport. The horror.

But the economic troubles are not just hitting the endorsement market. With the NBA and NFL collective bargaining agreements up for renewal in the next couple of years, one sports consultant is saying that players associations are going to need a “dose of reality” or face not having a league to play in anymore.

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Ah, the broadsides that inevitably come with labor negotiations. Per the AP, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is planning to take a crack at reducing the rookie contracts many think are ridiculous — considering they are much more than what veterans will earn. The commissioner called deals such as the ones Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan and Miami Dolphins O-lineman Jake Long signed “ridiculous.”

It will be particularly difficult for Lord Rog to be able to extract a change in the rookie salary scale out of NFLPA head Gene Upshaw because the union can and will demand some serious concessions in any change to the draftees’ first contracts.

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When the NFL owners and players signed their collective bargaining agreement in March of 2006, they consented to a clause that would allow either party to opt out of the deal by November 8th of this year.

It seems that the owners are certainly going to exercise that clause. And they probably won’t wait until November. Read more…