The NFL has a pension problem

[bing101]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/nfl-tackles-its-pension-problem-1454523050

Well this is one issue that you never see coming.

[Stephane Dumas]

Looks like we have to subscribe to see the whole article, however Archive.is had menaged to archive the entire article. https://archive.is/6ybSs

It might be premature to call this "death of football" but the NFL might begin its slow decline.

[kurumi]

Correlate this with the well-known fact that NFL players die earlier... but that's not really true either, overall. Here's a 2013 Forbes article covering results of a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study on mortality and suicide rates of NFL retirees compared to similar men outside the NFL. Aside from some high-profile exceptions, most NFL retirees tend to live longer. Why? My guess: they get banged up, but they're self-selected for greater strength and health, and probably benefit from a few years, at least, of nutritionists, trainers, etc.

There is one sentence that really needed editing:

They found that retired players died at nearly half the ratio as comparable men outside of the NFL.

In other words, 50% of NFL retirees are immortal. That's your pension problem right there :-)

[jeffandnicole]

It might be premature to call this "death of football" but the NFL might begin its slow decline.

Why does it appear that everything that happens in America is reason for (name a big sports league here) to decline?

[triplemultiplex]

I assume the league will eventually go back on their pension responsibilities just like every other industry and government entity and force their workers to hand their money over to the Wall Street thieves via 401k's and hope the market doesn't tank right before (or right after) they retire.