NFL owners appear no closer to reaching labor agreement after special meeting

NFL owners meet to discuss labor situation

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — NFL owners have met for several hours to discuss the labor situation, although it appears they are no closer to reaching an agreement with the players’ union for a new collective bargaining agreement.

League spokesman Greg Aiello said that “everything is status quo. Nothing new to report.”

Some of the owners listened to a presentation by NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith on Saturday as the two sides try to avoid a lockout in 2011, when the current labor pact expires.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said during his state-of-the-league address Friday that fans “expect solutions … and we should deliver.”

Goodell said he and the league’s owners want an agreement and it’s “absolutely false” that owners would want to see a work stoppage.