Bob McNair, the owner of the Houston Texans National Football League team, said many teams can't afford to spend indiscriminately on free agents. "Most teams are stressed economically and do not have the money," McNair said today in an interview from Houston with Bloomberg Television. Source: Bloomberg.com I find this exceptionally funny that McNair can say this when in 2008, the NFL experienced its third most profitable year ever. Did you know that in 2008, Stephen Ross bought 95% of the Miami Dolphins for $1.1 billion? Did you know that in 2009, MNF telecasts drew 14 of the top 15 largest cable audiences of 2009? Did you know that in 2009, MNF telecasts drew 14 of the top 15 largest cable audiences of 2009? Did you know that 10 NFL stadiums are 100% publicly financed and 19 are at least 75% publicly financed? Did you know that from the time the Arizona Cardinals' new stadium was approved in 2000 until the team moved into the facility in 2007, the franchise experienced a 159% increase in value? Did you know that in 2008, total league revenue rose 7% to $7.6 billion, more than any other league? Did you know that in 2008, average team operating income was $32 million, a 540% increase from 1998? Did you know that despite the recession, League attendance was down only 1% for the 2009 season? Did you know that DirecTV renewed its agreement with the NFL to serve as its satellite carrier through the 2014 season for $1 billion annually, payable to the league notwithstanding a lockout? Did you know that 100% of NFL owners have relied on taxpayer subsidies to publicly finance stadium construction, infrastructure improvements near the stadium or land development? Did you know that in 2009, the NFL experienced its best overall television viewership since 1990? Did you know that contrary to Commissioner Roger Goodell's prediction that 20% of all NFL games would be blacked out in local markets in 2009, only 8.6% were, in fact, blacked out? 2011-Lockout-Central - NFLPlayers.com Interesting to say the least. The fact that teams are financially crunched doesn't make sense b/c the financial info that is available points to a record increase in revenues. This is proven with the Packers' financials that show a $20 million operating profit. Houston is a high revenue sharing team that contributes to small-market teams, so by virtue of that, they can't be struggling financially. (see Forbes) #6 Houston Texans - Forbes.com NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith has asked repeatedly for financial transparency, which basically means timely, meaningful and reliable disclosures about a company's financial performance. All of this is public knowledge and worth looking into because it seems like the teams are still making a boat load of cash while crying they're losing money. Mr. McNair, we're pointing at you and asking for answers.
SoDev, I agree I would rather the money go to the people actually playing the game then the teams. In this economy with people losing their jobs and livelihood the owners are still in the green, literally.
what BS are your talking about? He's going to sign the checks when it's time to pick up his draft picks, although we are all hoping that the rookie pay scale gets changed and soon.
I got caught up in the title a little bit. I thought he was talking about the Texans :Clueless: But still it's not like we aren't seeing any free agent signings at all this off-season unless that player has too much baggage.
I think a lot of those questions I posted up from NFLPA needs to be answered. cp, honestly I don't think that player salaries come out of the operating profits, I think the profit is after everything is paid, but I'll check on that and get back to you. dontknow, McNair is the one that said "many teams" can't afford it, how many is many? 30? 20? 2? Ticket prices get raised and like I posted new stadiums get built with less team money and more public monies but teams say they are not making money?
:word: Wouldn't be profit then. After all costs the average NFL profit per team is 30+ million over the last few years. Also, Marshall's cost is offset by the amount of merchandise they will sell by signing him, putting more people in seats, creating a bigger fan base/ team interest, etc...
I don't think they do either, I'm just saying that if one player makes more than an entire team's operating profit, players aren't necessarily starving either. That's why this labor mess is so ugly for both sides. Fans like me don't really want to hear either side of this rich group of crybabies snitching about money.
Well it's not the Marshalls of the league with megadeals that the NFLPA is worried about. it's the mid level vets. Under salary caps in the past, it was hard for teams who had to give megadeals to rookies because of the inflated draft salaries. It's hard to pay the vets who deserve the money when you have Stafford or whomever on your team taking a $20M cap hit even though they've barely been in the league.
