By now if you are a sports betting enthusiast that loves the NFL, you must be growing sick of the lockout as it has officially reached the 40 days mark. For NFL fans looking for a new hobby as a result of no compromise from either the NFL or PA, consider shifting your attention to this year's Kentucky Derby betting lines, as the field is wide open. However, if you are one of the few fans still hoping that the NFL will play this season, here is an update.

Despite being entrenched in a 40 day holdout with the players union, the NFL is set to release its regular season schedule later this week. Essentially, the belief amongst many experts close to the situation is that the NFL feels that the players will fold sooner rather than later. The NFL similar to any big corporation can in fact afford to wait it out until the players swallow their pride and agree to the league's terms. Conversely, it appears to be only a matter of time before the players turn on each other. While the Tom Brady's and Peyton Manning's of the NFL can afford to wait it out while the lawyer's discuss a compromise, the average player making just enough to stay out of trouble, can't wait around forever.

Ultimately, as colleague Frank Deford of SI.com points out, the NFL is running what is called a prevent offense. In essence, a prevent offence, allows the NFL to holdout for an extended period of time, by never agreeing to the compromises the NFLPA is offering. Deford also notes that the NFL will come out on top of this dispute for a few different reasons. Firstly, the average NFL player stays in the league for around five years. However, they only get paid by their team during the season. Meaning to say, as we noted above, the high profile players have enough money saved to continue the lockout, but the average player doesn't, and sooner than later they will turn on the high profile players and agree to the leagues compromises.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, if you ask a casual fan what exactly the NFL lockout stems from they probably couldn't tell you. Meaning to say, the NFLPA wants to put up a fight as an image of a union being exploited by its employer. However, the average fan doesn't care about one side exploiting the other. Rather as long as the casual fan get's to tune in every Sunday from September to February and watch their favorite teams that are all they really care about. And if that doesn't happen this year, there are always the other three big North American sports to tune into.