The 2011 National Football League lockout was a lockout that lasted from March 11 to July 25. It occurred primarily during the offseason for 18 weeks and 4 days. Although it initially threatened to postpone or cancel the 2011 season, the only game that was called off was the August 7 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game because of the insufficient time the teams had to prepare for that contest after the lockout ended.
This is only the second time in which a labor dispute has affected the preseason. The other was during the 1974 NFL season, in which the College All-Star Game was canceled due to the threat of a work stoppage; an agreement was struck shortly thereafter, and the rest of the preseason, beginning with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, was unaffected. The 1982 and 1987 strikes began after the regular season was already underway. The lockout is the longest in the NFL's history; however, because the majority of the lockout has been imposed during the offseason, it has had much less of an effect than shorter strikes in 1982 and 1987, both of which (so far) led to more canceled games.