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| Sports |
The Great Indoors
Matt Purdue
06/01/2004
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Fans Come First
As important as deep pockets are, would-be owners must buy
into the league’s fan-first mantra. A wannabe George Steinbrenner with plans to
buy his way to a championship by selling $80 box seats will be summarily punted.
“We’re competitors only on the field,” Wasserman says of his fellow owners, nine
of whom also own NFL teams, including the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones and New
Orleans Saints’ Tom Benson. “We are all partners in this.”
“This is unlike any other business. You can’t go in
thinking you are
going to make a lot of money. Expect to fund losses the first couple of
years.” |
Baker and the
owners rigorously vet potential investors, and “if they don’t believe what we
believe, it is better for them to invest in something else,” he states. “If a
guy comes in with a check for $50 million, that will get our attention. But he
still has to go through the process. We have a philosophy; it’s not just
idealistic.”
The league’s philosophy will necessarily encompass paying the
bills. Recent sports history is littered with well-meaning failures. The Extreme
Football League, backed by the World Wrestling Federation and NBC, folded after
just one season, suffering $70 million in losses. The Women’s United Soccer
Association lasted three years. The United States Football League lived only
three seasons, 1983-85, even with Donald Trump’s backing. The AFL is not immune,
losing four teams in 2001. Franchises in Iowa, Nashville, Toronto, Milwaukee and
Houston have folded or relocated.
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