The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have reached a new collective bargaining agreement, preventing a work stoppage and ensuring no replacement referees for the upcoming season. This agreement will last until the 2032 season.
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NFL referee Shawn Hochuli (83) and back judge Jimmy Russell (82) review a play at the instant replay cart during a game between the Chargers and New York Giants on Sept. 28 in East Rutherford, N.J. (Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
There will be no replacement referees — and therefore, hopefully, no "Fail Mary" repeat — in the NFL this fall.
The league and the NFL Referees Assn. have avoided a work stoppage by agreeing on a new collective bargaining agreement that runs through the 2032 season.
The current deal was scheduled to expire May 31. The sides having been negotiating since the summer of 2024, and the NFL had begun the hiring process for replacement officials last month.
Read more: Avoiding another 'Fail Mary': Inside the tense NFL vs. referees labor dispute
"This agreement is a testament to the joint commitment of the league and union to invest in and improve officiating," NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said in a statement. "It also speaks to the game officials' relentless pursuit of improvement and officiating excellence. We look forward to working together for the betterment of the game."
Terms of the agreement have not been released, but the Associated Press reported in March that the league had increased its offer to a 6.45% annual growth rate"growth rate" = increase? in compensation over a six-year labor deal.
"We see this new CBA as a partnership with the league that benefits our membership but also seeks to make our game better," NFLRA president Carl Cheffers said in a statement. "It is good to get these negotiations behind us so we can focus on preparing for the 2026 season."
The new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association runs through the 2032 season.
If a new agreement had not been reached, the NFL could have faced a work stoppage and the hiring of replacement referees.
The previous collective bargaining agreement was scheduled to expire on May 31.
Negotiations for the new agreement had been ongoing since the summer of 2024.
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No such agreement between the sides was reached during the 2012 offseason, leading to a lockout that lasted 110 days. It all culminated in Week 3 of that season with the notorious "Fail Mary" call at the end of the Green Bay Packers-Seattle Seahawks game on "Monday Night Football."
With the Seahawks down by five in the closing seconds, quarterback Russell Wilson threw deep to receiver Golden Tate in the end zone. Green Bay defender M.D. Jennings appeared to come down with the ball first, with Tate attempting to wrestle the ball away.
Two officials stood above the players, with one signaling touchdown (meaning Tate caught the ball, Seattle wins) and the other signaling touchback (meaning Jennings caught the ball, Green Bay wins). The final call on the field was a touchdown, which stood after a lengthy review.
It got worse. The next day, the NFL released a statement saying the officials missed a pass interference call on Tate that would have negated the touchdown. A day after that, the NFL and the referees union announced a new collective bargaining agreement that brought the regular officials back for that weekend's games.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.