Time-Out Gets Called in NFL Labor Talks

Just a few hours before a threatened walkout by NFL players, team owners and representatives of the players' agreed to extend labor talks by another 24 hours. That pushes the deadline to Friday at 11:59 p.m.

Both sides have been meeting with federal mediators for two weeks. The main sticking point: how team owners and players will split about $9 billion in annual revenues. Players have threatened to decertify their union and then file antitrust lawsuits against the owners if they don't get a more favorable split.

Even President Barack Obama got pulled into the issue today during a press conference he was holding with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, but Obama said this is a fight for the two sides to work out without his involvement.

"For an industry that's making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out how to divide it up in a sensible way and be true to their fans, who obviously allow for all the money that they're making," Obama said. "And so my expectation and hope is that they would resolve it without me intervening—because it turns out I've got a lot of other stuff to do."

To keep up with the latest on the potential NFL strike front, click here for coverage from Sporting News, a Portfolio.com partner.

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