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| "The richest game in the world" |
As we move closer to the March 4th deadline for the NFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement to expire the owners and players union are still no closer to an agreement than they were a year ago. The two sides have at least agreed to median in their dispute. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent U.S. government agency, will oversee negotiations in Washington beginning Friday. Hopefully they can resolve the issues that are keeping the world's greatest game from going on strike.
According to Forbes The National Football League is the strongest sport in the world. The reason: No other league has so successfully exploited new stadiums as the NFL during the past decade. Last year the NFL made more than $9.3 billion according to the most recent Sports Illustrated. With all of that money being made why would anybody jeopardise losing that stream of income?
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| DeMaurice Smth, Executive Director NFLPA |
The unfortunate part about this whole ordeal is that the players have no leverage. They can't accord not to play. We hear so much about these huge contracts that the guys are getting but what we don't bother to pay attention to is the amount of guys that are going broke after their playing days are over. According to a Sports Illustrated article on March 23, 2009, by the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
So if the NFL were to shut down for the 2011 season, within a year of that, according to these numbers, more than half of these guys will be broke. The owners would lose a substantial amount of income but they'll be fine. Please understand that the NFL is a second or third job for these guys. This isn't their only way they eat. They were billionaire's prior to buying an NFL franchise. Take a look at the net worth of some of these guys:
1. Paul Allen, Seattle Seahawks
Net worth: $16.8 billion
2. Malcolm Glazer, Tampa Bay Bucs
Net worth: $2.5 billion
3. Wayne Huizenga, Miami Dolphins
Net Worth: $2.5 billion
4. Randolph Lerner, Cleveland Browns
Net Worth: $1.6 billion
5. Robert McNair, Houston Texans
Net Worth: $1.5 billion
6. Arthur Blank, Atlanta Falcons
Net Worth: $1.5 billion
7. Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys
Net Worth: $1.5 billion
8. Robert Kraft, New England Patriots
Net Worth: $1.4 billion
9. Steve Bisciotti, Baltimore Ravens
Net Worth: $1.3 billion
10. Daniel Snyder , Washington Redskins
Net Worth: $1 billion
The average NFL team is worth over $1 billion for the first time ever. Nineteen of the league's 32 teams are worth 10-digits, according to Forbes. We can argue about how the players at getting screwed all we want but the owners will determine what happens in 2011. I believe that the players will get some of things they want but by in large the owners will dictate the proceedings.
It's unfortunate because so many people will suffer financially if they don't play this fall. Think about all of the people employed by the stadiums across the country. Not to mention the hotels, restaurants and other service oriented venues. Everybody loses because some rich folks are fighting over money that they can't spend anyway. Well.... I guess the players have proven that they can and will spend it. What's your opinion?
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
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