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Chris Cooley: A player’s take on the owners opting out


Kid Cid
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There's beginning to be a bit of a buzz about the owners wanting ot opt out of the current labor contract signed with the NFLPA. Here's a link to what Chris Cooley had to say on the subject.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_...w?urn=nfl,83371

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Ahh crap, this should have been in the football forum. BJ, can you move it for me? Thanx.

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Cooley needs to stick to football. Some of the stuff he wrote is embarrassing to himself.

 

I tend to agree. The players are getting 60% of revenue in the NFL, not the profit. Yes most if not all owners are making money, but that is why they bought the teams in the first place. If something were to happen to the NFL, the players would not be out a lot of money, just out of a job. If something happens to the NFL, the owners will lose their collective asses. Yes, the player are risking injury, but they are well compensated for that risk. Owners in many cases are risking their financial futures. If players think the owners gig is so good, why don't we see a bunch of these rich retired players band together and purchase the teams?

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If players think the owners gig is so good, why don't we see a bunch of these rich retired players band together and purchase the teams?

Do you have any idea how much money it costs to buy a team? How much money do you think NFL Players make? Let's just say Tomlinson plays out his contract and gets 75 million or so... Half of that would go to taxes... So he has 40 million dollars total, and he is known as the best player/highest paid rb in the league... Of that 40 or so, he'll spend at least 10 million on housing/cars/whatever/donations... So if elite paid players like Manning and Tomlinson are rolling with lets say 20-30 million do you have any idea what it would take them to buy a team? Dan Snyder spent 600+ million to buy the skins...

We're talking Millionaires to Billionaires...

 

 

I'm not saying the players are right, just making a point about one statement...

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If players think the owners gig is so good, why don't we see a bunch of these rich retired players band together and purchase the teams?

Joe Montana tied to do exactly that in order to pry the Niners away from Dennis York. But it didn't work. York isn't interest in selling until he gets a new stadium deal in place; the value of the team would obviously be higher then. In the meantime, fans have to deal with an owner who isn't fan himself.

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cooley makes millions playing a game. he should be quiet.

He has more of a place to speak than all of us on a message board.

 

Do you have any idea how much money it costs to buy a team? How much money do you think NFL Players make? Let's just say Tomlinson plays out his contract and gets 75 million or so... Half of that would go to taxes... So he has 40 million dollars total, and he is known as the best player/highest paid rb in the league... Of that 40 or so, he'll spend at least 10 million on housing/cars/whatever/donations... So if elite paid players like Manning and Tomlinson are rolling with lets say 20-30 million do you have any idea what it would take them to buy a team? Dan Snyder spent 600+ million to buy the skins...

We're talking Millionaires to Billionaires...

 

 

I'm not saying the players are right, just making a point about one statement...

Just read the Rams are on the market for a cool 850-900 million...

So if only there could be 50-60 players paid like Manning, Freeney, and Tomlinson that were willing to unload half of their savings...

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Do you have any idea how much money it costs to buy a team? How much money do you think NFL Players make? Let's just say Tomlinson plays out his contract and gets 75 million or so... Half of that would go to taxes... So he has 40 million dollars total, and he is known as the best player/highest paid rb in the league... Of that 40 or so, he'll spend at least 10 million on housing/cars/whatever/donations... So if elite paid players like Manning and Tomlinson are rolling with lets say 20-30 million do you have any idea what it would take them to buy a team? Dan Snyder spent 600+ million to buy the skins...

We're talking Millionaires to Billionaires...

 

 

I'm not saying the players are right, just making a point about one statement...

 

Ever hear of financing? I mean if the owners gig is so good, surely they could borrow the money right.

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Chris Cooley is right! The same teams who want out are the same teams that will stink forever, because they will not be able to afford great talent. Can you imagine an NFL draft where the worst teams don't get to draft the best players, but instead are only able to draft the players they can afford? It would go back to the game of the 70s and 80s, where you have the same 7-10 teams fighting for the championship every year. If you think teams like the Bengals and Bills are mediocre now, wait until there is no cap. You all who pull for small market teams might want to rethink your stance. As a Redskins fan, I realize that no cap is good for me and my team, but devastating to the league that we have grown to love in recent history.

Edited by ROYALWITCHEESE
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Chris Cooley is right! The same teams who want out are the same teams that will stink forever, because they will not be able to afford great talent. Can you imagine an NFL draft where the worst teams don't get to draft the best players, but instead are only able to draft the players they can afford? It would go back to the game of the 70s and 80s, where you have the same 7-10 teams fighting for the championship every year. If you think teams like the Bengals and Bills are mediocre now, wait until there is no cap. You all who pull for small market teams might want to rethink your stance. As a Redskins fan, I realize that no cap is good for me and my team, but devastating to the league that we have grown to love in recent history.

 

 

Between the players getting 60% of the revenue, and what rookie salaries are getting to be, I'd bet money we won't see a uncapped season. The owners would lock the doors until it's more profitable for them. If the NFL, and this includes all the current players, cannot take care of all the old guys with disablities, what makes them think they are going to be taking care of? By who, with what? Players and the NFL should have pushed for better pay for the old guys, one day they will be one. Owners are starting to hit the wall with these rookie contracts, and regardless whats said, as a vet, I would be upset. They need to fix the salaries, fix the revenue, and both need to compromise , and set up funds for those who have gone before. Will the NFL become the Yankees?, I have serious doubts. It's a lose/lose for the owners.

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Between the players getting 60% of the revenue, and what rookie salaries are getting to be, I'd bet money we won't see a uncapped season. The owners would lock the doors until it's more profitable for them. If the NFL, and this includes all the current players, cannot take care of all the old guys with disablities, what makes them think they are going to be taking care of? By who, with what? Players and the NFL should have pushed for better pay for the old guys, one day they will be one. Owners are starting to hit the wall with these rookie contracts, and regardless whats said, as a vet, I would be upset. They need to fix the salaries, fix the revenue, and both need to compromise , and set up funds for those who have gone before. Will the NFL become the Yankees?, I have serious doubts. It's a lose/lose for the owners.

I agree 100% that they need to get the rookie contracts under control... Heck, follow the NBA with slotted picks... They also need to take care of the players that came before them, but that's an Upshaw issue, and he is against helping those guys out.

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I could see a guy like Manning getting some of his rich non-football buddies to buy a team when he's done.

 

PManning = $20 million

Rich guy 1 = $20 million

Rich guy 2 = $20 million

Rich guy 3 = $20 million

Rich guy 4 = $20 million

 

Mezzanine investor / investment fund = $200 million

 

Bank debt = $700 million

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Forbes.com data quoted in the article -

 

The NFL is still the richest sports league in the world (the average team is worth $957 million, 7% more than last year) as well as the most profitable (mean operating income in 2006 was $17.8 million on $204 million in revenue).

 

The 2006 season marked the beginning of six-year contract extensions with the three major networks--a $3.7 billion deal with CBS, a $4.3 billion deal with Fox and a $3.6 billion deal with NBC--that award the NFL with an average of $2 billion a year until 2011.

 

If this is true, that means the average owner is sitting on an asset worth $957m, which is generating operating income to him of $17.8m annually - a return of a whopping 1.9%. Even if we factor in the annual appreciation in the value of the franchise, which was 7% according to the data quoted above, that's a return of 8.9% - before taxes, and if I'm not mistaken, before any interest expense on debt incurred to acquire the franchise (typically the term "operating income" refers to income before interest and taxes, as well as certain other non-cash charges). If you include interest expense as well as certain cash timing differences for front-loaded contracts, it seems very feasible to me that a number of franchises are operating on negative cash flow and are generating a sub-par return to their owners.

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Not all the owners have a team as their sole asset. Anybody heard of Robert Kraft in a different context to the NFL? That jerk Snyder? For many owners, NFL franchises are playthings.

 

Red McCombs bought the Vikings for roughly $250m and sold them for nearly three times that amount - he made out like a bandit, which he was. Sure, my heart is really bleeding for these poor guys.

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Not all the owners have a team as their sole asset. Anybody heard of Robert Kraft in a different context to the NFL? That jerk Snyder? For many owners, NFL franchises are playthings.

 

Why should it matter if the teams are not the owners sole asset. They are an investment just like you have in your IRA. If the players start taking much more of the money the owners would be better off just socking the money away in a money market account. And while there is definite appreciation how many people are out there willing to buy? Why would someone want to buy an investment that returns much less than the average stock portfolio? Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to cry for the owners, but at the same time player salaries are getting way out of hand. You seem to take the attitude that the owners are rich so screw them who cares. Unfortuately this seems to be the way most of America is, screw the rich they make enough. Well if it isn't profitable for the owners, then eventually there will be no reason to own a team.

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Forbes.com data quoted in the article -

 

The NFL is still the richest sports league in the world (the average team is worth $957 million, 7% more than last year) as well as the most profitable (mean operating income in 2006 was $17.8 million on $204 million in revenue).

 

The 2006 season marked the beginning of six-year contract extensions with the three major networks--a $3.7 billion deal with CBS, a $4.3 billion deal with Fox and a $3.6 billion deal with NBC--that award the NFL with an average of $2 billion a year until 2011.

 

If this is true, that means the average owner is sitting on an asset worth $957m, which is generating operating income to him of $17.8m annually - a return of a whopping 1.9%. Even if we factor in the annual appreciation in the value of the franchise, which was 7% according to the data quoted above, that's a return of 8.9% - before taxes, and if I'm not mistaken, before any interest expense on debt incurred to acquire the franchise (typically the term "operating income" refers to income before interest and taxes, as well as certain other non-cash charges). If you include interest expense as well as certain cash timing differences for front-loaded contracts, it seems very feasible to me that a number of franchises are operating on negative cash flow and are generating a sub-par return to their owners.

 

Shhhhhhhhhh.

 

If you confuse the argument with facts, guys like Seahawks21 & pon are going to have their heads explode. They're convinved that the owners are completely screwing over the players, to the point where it is akin to slavery.

Edited by Bronco Billy
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Did you WATCH the report on NFL network? I did. They stated that it was NOT, in fact, unanimous, but that once they have enough votes to pass something, they "delcare" it a unanimous vote.

 

I watched the NFL Network last night. Schefter was asked about it and absolutely stated it was unanimous. In fact, he made a smart ass comment afterwards about even Al Davis not abstaining but instead voting with all the other owners.

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