NFL owners, players break off labor talks

WASHINGTON (AP) - Unable to decide how to divvy up $9 billion a year, NFL owners and players put the country's most popular sport in limbo Friday by breaking off labor negotiations hours before their contract expired. The union decertified; the league imposed a lockout.

Ten players, including MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, sued the owners in federal court in Minneapolis. Then, at midnight, the owners locked out players, two people with knowledge of the league's decision told The Associated Press - signaling the NFL's first work stoppage since 1987.

One of the people told the AP that the league informed all 32 teams and the union about the move shortly before 12 a.m.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Despite two extensions to the collective bargaining agreement during 16 days of talks overseen by a federal mediator - and previous months of stop-and-start negotiating - the sides could not agree on a new deal. Now they will be adversaries in court: The players already requested an injunction to block a lockout, even before one was in place.

As was clear all along, the dispute came down to money.