Players Union to Sue Players Over Licensing : Pro football: Owners sign Moon, Marino, others for use of names, likenesses on products, cutting NFLPA revenue.

The NFL Players Assn. has voted to sue Warren Moon, Dan Marino and other players for breach of contract, it was learned Thursday.

The suits, alleging the athletes made unlawful market-licensing agreements with representatives of the league’s 28 club owners, are to be filed Monday in New York or Minneapolis.

A source said they will be followed by additional suits against every NFL athlete who, in the last three years, has signed owners’ authorizations after first signing player authorizations.

The conflict is basically over the funding of the players’ association, whose lifeblood is the money it earns by licensing football cards and other NFLPA products.

The owners have sought to reduce that revenue by signing name players to league licensing programs.

The dispute is an escalation of the long and often bitter fight between the owners and players. They have been operating without a bargaining agreement for more than four years.

Gene Upshaw, executive director of the players’ association, confirmed that its board of directors voted unanimously last week to proceed in court against some of the game’s biggest stars, including the Houston Oilers’ Moon and the Miami Dolphins’ Marino.

Upshaw refused to discuss details of the impending litigation, but it was learned that players’ association attorneys also are planning suits against Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway, Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Bubby Brister and, among others, the Raiders’ former player representative, Sean Jones, a Houston defensive lineman.

The players’ association will seek permanent injunctions and unspecified damages in its individual suits against the players.

“We’ve been damaged by every player who defected,” said Upshaw, the former Raider Hall of Fame star who was reelected last week to another three-year term as NFLPA leader.

The conflict has divided some of football’s best known quarterbacks. Among those supporting the union are Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers, Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins and Bobby Hebert of the New Orleans Saints. Those supporting the owners are Moon, Marino, Elway, Troy Aikman of the Dallas Cowboys and Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills.

According to several player agents, the owners are using a licensing bonus scale this spring ranging from $10,000 for third-string players to $50,000 for starters. The scale increases to $100,000 for probable first-round draft choices to $75,000 for probable second-round picks.

Harold Henderson, the NFL’s labor vice president, could not be reached for comment.