Goldman Sachs just got a penalty flag in the pro football confrontation between billionaire team owners and millionaire players.
Wall Street’s most powerful investment bank, which is a behind-the-scenes adviser to wealthy owners of NFL teams, was called out yesterday for its involvement in a labor dispute that threatens to shut down the 2011 football season.
Goldman’s role was outlined by a union leader for the players — himself a former Goldman executive who worked under CEO Lloyd Blankfein — who chastised team owners for refusing to open their books during the increasingly contentious negotiations.
“It’s hard to find that Goldman Sachs would ask any of its clients to do a deal without full transparency,” said George Atallah, an assistant executive director of the players’ union and a former senior analyst and trader at Goldman.
“I’ve worked for Goldman and know what it believes,” he said. “So it’s doubly disappointing to me that they are so respected but apparently won’t advise their clients to observe the most basic tenet of business.”
The NFL disputed the union’s comments that Goldman is involved in the labor negotiations.
“To be clear, Goldman Sachs has absolutely no involvement in these negotiations whatsoever,” said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. “Fans should be as rightly confused as we are about the union’s comments on Goldman Sachs and its entire negotiating strategy. This is just another excuse for the union’s delaying tactics.”
A spokesman for Goldman didn’t return a call seeking comment.
After nearly three-dozen negotiating sessions, owners of the 32 NFL teams and officials of the NFL Players Association representing 1,900 players aren’t close to reaching a new collective bargaining pact to replace the one expiring March 3.
Kevin Mawae, the players’ union president, said during a news conference that he doubts the two sides will reach a deal before the Super Bowl on Feb. 6. The lack of a deal wouldn’t affect the game but could wreck future seasons.
He said owners have amassed $4 billion in cash they’ll keep from TV deals even if there’s a shutdown.
Among player stumbling blocks are 18 percent give-backs from pension contributions and playing a season expanded by two games with no extra health benefits involved for the added exposure to injuries.
“Each time they play a game, three or four players are injured, ” Mawae said.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Mawae’s claim that talks are bogged down is “unfortunate” and was his own way of stalling ahead of asking Congress or the courts to step into the fray for a solution.
The union’s Atallah disputed the NFL’s remarks, saying, “Whether it’s Congress or the courts, why would we want to risk our partnership with the owners to a third party instead of with each other?”
Mawae said he doesn’t believe owners’ claims they’re losing money, justifying their cost-cutting demands.
“We think no NFL team is losing money, but owners won’t show us their books to prove it,” he said. “They ask us to trust them, but we don’t.”