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January 11, 2005
NFL revenue sharing trending toward MLB?
Mark Maske and Thomas Heath have written an interesting article about money in the NFL.
One argument is that revenue sharing makes small market teams more competitive, which in turn makes the NFL more interesting, which leads to greater profits. Indianapolis thinks along these lines:
“It’s an important, critical time,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said. “It’s like a freight train that is starting to go in the wrong direction. It’s hard to stop, especially if it gets too far down the tracks. Are we headed where baseball is? No. But it is trending in that direction.”Gen Upshaw takes the argument further:
NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw warned owners in Detroit last October that eight franchises were gaining an unfair competitive advantage because of their revenue growth. He said the union intended to make revenue sharing a major issue in negotiations over a new labor agreement. Although Upshaw did not name the teams, they are widely assumed to be the Redskins, Cowboys, Texans, Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears.It's interesting that the Giants aren't listed there. Maybe their entrepenurial spirit is lacking. The article mentions the Eagles cheerleaders bringing in some income with their lingerie calenders while the Giants don't ahve any cheerleaders... Posted by James Trotta at January 11, 2005 2:51 AM
Comments
I read and heard a little about this during this past off season.
Sounds a lot like the new blood owners aren't buying into the old blood system and the new blood have's are the ones most strongly pushing things in a baseball-like direction.
I doubt that the NFL can prevent that kind of disaster from occurring if the players union fails to step in and impose its will.
Kind of sad.
Posted by: Tom at January 13, 2005 11:39 AMPost a comment