Key Senator Urges NFL to Open Financial Books

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The chairman of a Senate committee that
oversees sports issues is urging NFL owners to open their financial
books to the players union, arguing that will help resolve a labor
dispute.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee,
wrote in The Washington Post Friday that such a move would
demonstrate good faith by the owners.

The players union has been making the same demand.

Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said that he has stayed
out of the dispute. Left unsaid in the column is whether that will
change, especially if a lockout begins as early as March 4.

The biggest sticking point between the two sides is how to
divide about $9 billion in annual revenues.