Lehigh Camp Looks Iffy For Eagles

A judge’s decision to push the next NFL mediation session to July 19 is putting pressure on teams to cancel out-of-town training camps.

For now, the Philadelphia Eagles and officials at Lehigh University stand ready to start camp in late July.

But four NFL teams plan to cancel their away activities, and the lack of a new CBA deal in the next two to three weeks would make out-of-town camps very difficult for teams to pull off.

Judge Arthur J. Boylan, the federal magistrate judge who is mediating the labor dispute between NFL owners and players, has scheduled another session for July 19 in Minneapolis.

The principals in the fight over how to split up over $9 billion in revenue met all week in New York, but still have not reached a new deal as the lockout has dragged on for more than four months.

The urgency, it appears, is starting to heat up. Several teams have already canceled their traditional out-of-town portions of training camp and the Hall of Fame game between Chicago and St. Louis is less than a month away.

The Vikings have already said that if an agreement is not reached by July 18, they will have to cancel training camp at Minnesota State University in Mankato, where they have held two-a-days every summer since 1966.

And the Rams and Bears are scheduled to kick off the preseason with a game in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 7, just two and a half weeks after Boylan's scheduled meeting on the 19th.

The Giants, Jets and Ravens have already announced that, no matter when an agreement is reached, they will conduct all of their preseason work at their primary facilities rather than leave for various college campuses, a time-honored tradition that coaches embrace as a team-building exercise and small towns across the country depend upon for tourism revenue.

Boylan ordered both sides to continue mediation without him "in an effort to define and narrow the differences between their respective settlement positions." He also ordered attorneys from both sides to be ready to meet with him on the evening of July 18 "for an in-person agenda- setting session" that presumably would set the stage for meaningful, fruitful talks the following day.

The Eagles train at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., a former steel town that is banking on its annual Musikfest, the Eagles and a newer casino (with a new hotel) for revenue.

It’s unsure how Lehigh officials can get camp ready for the Eagles on short notice, since training camp was scheduled to start in late July.

Lehigh officials have said publicly they can set up stands for people attending camp , but they will need some notice. But Lehigh also needs to accommodate students by mid-August, when the Eagles have usually moved onto the NovaCare Center in Philadelphia.