The National Football League’s owners officially locked out the players on Mar. 12 creating the first work stoppage in the NFL since 1987. A lockout is when the employer closes a business and refuses to let the employees work, therefore withholding their salary in an attempt to gain leverage in a dispute.

The owners have been in negotiations with the National Football League’s Players Association for weeks and the NFLPA walked out on discussions sending the future of the 2011-12 NFL season into a mystery.

The main issues between the owners and players come down to money. The players want to split the revenue 50-50 while the NFL cannot come to an agreement about the revenue sharing.  The owners also want to extend the season to 18 games, and in a sport that is very physically demanding, 2 extra games can make a big impact.

The players want to change the minimum salary as well as discuss retired players’ benefits.  As of now, retired players are receiving very minimum benefits and for those who get injured early in their career, it can be devastating for them.

The latest deal set forth by the NFL kept the season at 16 games and created a new fund for retired players. The NFLPA left the deal on the table and by walking out is now taking the dispute to the courts. The NFL feels that that NFLPA had been more interested in legal action than negotiations the whole time.

With six months left before the beginning of next season, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expects the issues not to affect the season. However nothing is certain so far, and lockouts have had profound consequences in previous years in other sports, most notably the NHL. The NHL’s lockout completely ended the 2004-05 season, making it the first time ever in a North American sport that the entire season was lost due to a lockout.

An NFL lockout could affect fans all over the country, such as senior Bob Stevens who has season tickets to the Redskins. “If there is a lockout I am going to be really mad, I like going to games,” Stevens said.

If the NFL cannot resolve its issues before next season, many other disappointed fans are going to find they have lots of free time on Sunday afternoons.