Those of us entrenched in the realm of Social Media can be very opinionated and honest when it comes to products, services, and even the NFL Lockout.  After a brief resolution during the 2011 NFL Draft, the lockout was reinstated when the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals court ruled a brief stay on the injunction for the team owners.  The disgust of the fans has been definitely heard and felt by the league. Not only did they boo and heckle NFL commissioner Roger Goodell every time he stepped on stage during the draft, conversations and discussions by fans online about the conflict have turned ugly.

Lab42 put together a survey and infographic published by Mashable, which asked social media savvy people who were educated on the NFL Lockout how they felt about different aspects of the issue.

• Fans of both genders seem to think that there is too much uncertainty to decide whether or not there will be a season in 2011 (Men: 33%, Women: 50%).
• Eliminating massive rookie contracts/salaries, having smaller contracts/guaranteed salaries for all players, and providing current and past players better safety/ health benefits are the biggest issues social media fans express about the NFL.
• Most of the people surveyed (58%) said that they blame resides between the players and the owners, with 24% of fans solely blaming the owners.
• The statistic that blows me out of the water is that 63% of those questioned said their views of the NFL and NFLPA (National Football League Players’ Association) have not changed through this conflict.
• 26% of fans said they will take up a hobby without a NFL season to watch, while 22% would become a fan of another sport.

The economic impact will be enormous; beyond the large regular season losses the Super Bowl hosts in Indianapolis are scared of the potential losses from not playing the Championship game in their city (the NFL claims the big game generates around $150 million for host cities).

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard claims, “We’ve been told all along it will get done, when the time gets tight and people have their money involved, at that point in time, they tend to talk pretty quickly.”

Do you agree with the data on the infographic?  What resolution do you think will come from the labor dispute?  Let us know what you think about this hot social media topic!