Nightly News   |  September 27, 2012

NFL strikes deal with officials’ union

Average salaries will increase and the league will be able to hire a pool of trainees to replace underperforming refs in a new deal ending a three-week lockout. NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports.

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>>> those who were supposed to work with the deal. more from baltimore where the ravens will meet the cleveland browns tonight, stephanie, good evening.

>> reporter: good evening, savannah, well, the fans pouring into the stadium are relieved. tonight, they get real, full-time nfl referees. now they won't vote on the deal until saturday, but the lockout was lifted total. you can bet every call they make here tonight will be closely watched. there is added excitement in baltimore, america's game desperately needed a good call. late wednesday night, it got one. the tentative deal struck between the owners and the official union and the three-week incident on the football field . tonight, the replacement referees are out, and the regular ones are in. not a moment too soon, say many at the stadium.

>> guys, great job, go for it.

>> i am sure they are nice people, they tried their best, they're in way over their head.

>> reporter: the pressure was on for the nfl commissioner, goodell, to get it fixed. they missed an interference call and gave seattle a controversial win over green bay .

>> i think it was the fact they kept pushing us, this was the right thing for the game, the right thing to do, get the officials back on the field.

>> reporter: in the end, the union conceded little, the pension plan will stay the same for the next four years, with the average salaries going up to 215,000 by 2019 . and the league can hire a pool of trainees for the under-performing referees.

>> the league could have driven a hard bargain with the nfl , because the nfl couldn't continue with the replacements.

>> reporter: on the air in cleveland, it is all they can talk about.

>> it no longer became a sports story, it became a new story.

>> reporter: wknr's greg brenda has a prediction for the game.

>> i think for the first time in the nfl history, that officials could get a standing ovation and a stadium. they should get it.

>> reporter: good news for the referees who are used to more abuse than loves, at least for now, the job they do will be appreciated. three weeks into the season, the truth is nobody wants to talk about officials. they want the talk about facts, standings and quarterbacks. now, finally, the