The NFL Players Association won a decision Monday from Special Master Stephen Burbank that will prevent league owners from dismantling the supplemental revenue sharing (SRS) pool in 2010, as management had planned. The pool was valued at $210 million in 2009 and $220 million for 2010.
Burbank rejected an interpretation from the NFL Management Council that an owners resolution in March 2006 determined the supplemental revenue sharing pool was only required during years in which the NFL was operating under a salary cap.
"...We find no explicit distinction between capped and uncapped years or between capped years and The Final League Year," Burbank wrote in his ruling, which ESPN acquired Monday night.
Burbank agreed that the labor agreement required the union's approval of any changes made to the supplemental revenue sharing pool.
"The Special Master basically rejected every single argument that management made and regardless of how the league characterizes the decision, this is a victory for players, for low revenue clubs and the fans," said Jeffrey Kessler, the lead counsel for the union in the case.
The league said it would appeal Burbank's decision to the presiding U.S. District Court Judge, David Doty.
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