Kraft among the handful of owners concerned with downturn...

[rayzor]

i had originally put this in the other thread, but i thought it might get lost in the back and forth about whether charlotte was a small market discussion that thread turned into.

don't really care if it gets merged back in that.

anyway...

interesting couple of articles out today from albert breer and andrew brandt about the owners concerned about the economy, apparently two of the owners in that group are none other than robert kraft (pats) and stephen ross (dolphins), neither of which are guys i would have associated with small market teams...esp. kraft.

from the breer article...

Owner "factions" aren't as well defined as some have portrayed them to be.

The easy thing to do here is to box owners into "deal-maker" and "hawk" categories. In actuality, it's not that simple at all. On nearly every issue, there are differing opinions and shifting alliances within the ownership. That'll make Commissioner Roger Goodell's job -- to serve the interests of 32 teams, each with a unique circumstances -- a challenging one over the next few weeks.

At this meeting, the idea will be to get the 32 owners on the same page. That doesn't mean they'll agree on everything. But remember, just seven owners have been a part of the recent "secret" meetings, and so many will enter this meeting needing the update they'll get. Voices will be heard on all major issues, concerns will be aired, and the negotiating team's approach after the meeting will need to reflect those things.

The condition of the national economy will be raised.

Last week, the concerns some owners expressed over the economy's condition surfaced. Several owners -- including the very involved Robert Kraft from the New England Patriots, as well as the Miami Dolphins' Stephen Ross -- have a broader view of things, because of their involvement in businesses outside of football. These owners are sensitive to the condition of the national economy and the unemployment rate. Those owners want more substantive talks -- and less lawyering -- to balance a deal with those factors in mind.

That's not to say that anything raised by Kraft, Ross or any other owner will be a deal breaker. Kraft, of course, has been a major part of bringing the players and owners together, but his concern and potential resistance on this issue underscores the complexity of the overall situation within the ranks. It also shows the importance, on the part of both parties, on remaining thorough in this monumental negotiation, which everyone hopes will set the game up financially for some 20 years to come.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82066062/article/tangle-of-hope-pessimism-surrounds-owners-talks-in-chicago

and from the brandt article that talked about the CBA deal done in '06 (from his perspective as the packers GM at that time) and the aftermath as well as what the "handful of owners" are concerned about financially...it's all about ROI.

The 2006 aftermath

From 2005 to 2006 – the first year of the new CBA -- the Cap rose an unprecedented 19.3%, from $85.5 million to $102 million! Player costs had reached new heights, and I spent more time on addressing pre-2006 contract players who were seeing the market pass them by as I did on new contracts.

The Owners had a couple of different opt-out dates from the 2006 CBA, the first deadline being November of 2008. They didn’t even wait that long. In May of 2008 the Owners unanimously opted-out, shortening a CBA scheduled to run through 2013 by two years (it expired on March 11th this year).

Are there owners frustrated with the deal they made? Absolutely. Do some owners blame Tagliabue for a Player-friendly deal? Yes. Are there owners now realizing that Brown and Wilson were correct to vote against the deal? Yes, although few will admit now siding with those two.

What do Owners want?

The Owners have had a tough sell in this labor dispute, both to the Players and to the public. They cannot – like NBA owners – claim losses. They cannot claim they should make more money; that doesn’t play well on Main Street. Thus, they speak in terms of “shared sacrifice,” and “sustainable models,” code words for the Players receiving less of a share than they presently receive.

The Owners message is a changed environment since 2006: lack of public financing of stadiums, massive debt, player costs outpacing revenues, etc. Players respond by asking for more complete financials, a key negotiation issue for the next CBA.

In simplistic business terms, Owners want better ROI (return on investment). They have assets with, say, $300 million in annual revenues and $10-15 million in profit. They are aware of other business with similar numbers with multiples of that profit number.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/A-moment-in-time.html

[rayzor]

also an interesting and actually intelligent comment/suggestion from florio on PFT with a response by ryan kalil....

In our view, Kraft’s concerns possibly will result in what we’ll call a “true-down” — a device for reeling back the year-by-year salary cap in the event that performance comes in lower than projected. It’s a fair goose-gander point; if the players want to share in the upside (as they should), then they should be required to share in the risk of the pie shrinking. The current talks focus essentially on a guaranteed minimum (via a “pegged cap”) plus a share of the upside; perhaps to get a deal done, Kraft and the rest of the owners will seek, and receive, a commitment that a fully sliding scale will be used, both for better and for worse.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/06/20/kraft-ross-have-concerns-about-another-economic-downturn/

RyanKalil “If the players want to share in the upside, then they should be required to share in the risk of the pie shrinking.” Agreed. #PFT

[jtm]

The small market team reference always cracks me up. Most of the "small market teams" are in much larger markets (cities) then the so called large market teams. Seems that it is used more as an indication of fan support v. actual size of city where a team resides. Point in fact, Pittsburgh is a large market team but Charlotte is not?????

[jtm]

also an interesting and actually intelligent comment/suggestion from florio on PFT with a response by ryan kalil....

Wow, a football player with business sense - I wish the rest of the players had some. If that was the case, this would have been over a long time ago.

[Fiz]

Just a reminder that Kraft is worried about downturn because he built an utter abomination of a stadium in the middle of goddamn nowhere containing a massive mall that no one goes to lol

[Fiz]

robert karft

[thefuzz]

I have been saying for a while that the owners are a little nervous about the likely waning of interest in the NFL product.

Not sure if it will become less popular, but I will be shocked if it continues to increase in popularity the next 10 years like it did the last 10.