Why scuttle what wasn’t broken
Of course it is clear to see why the NFLPA would want to examine the teams’ records. As with all professional sports operations, there is certain to be decent cash flow to even the poorest of clubs and examples of the nepotism that is always so rife in such organizations. The release of several baseball teams’ books to the website Deadspin was devastating in its accounting of opulence even as those teams cried poverty.
Still, there is little for NFL teams to lose in opening their records. A few years ago the owner of one of the league’s more financially-challenged teams told me “teams don’t generate that much revenue from year-to-year, you make your money when you sell your franchise.”
The owner begged his name not be used for the obvious reason of angering his brethren, but his point was clear: In the lucrative NFL, with its hard salary cap, every team – regardless of relative wealth – could be sold for something close to $1 billion (higher revenue-generating teams like the Redskins and Eagles for even more). And with movements looming at the end of this labor deal to get a team in Los Angeles and expand the game’s exposure internationally, the television deals are only going to get bigger and franchise values are only going to rise.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
