"Finances" Archive

So Matt Forte aka 50% of the bears offense aka overworked and underpaid aka the reason running backs hold out aka aka aka … has sprained his MCL.

First let’s take a moment to thank de lawwd (or whomever you praise) that Forte didn’t tear his ACL or MCL. That’s a potential death knell for an RB who wants a big contract.

But this is a sprain and he shall recover. The bad part (or good part?) is that he has to be out at least 2 weeks and justifiably 4. Of course, the Bears are pushing for him to come back before the end of the season. But if he doesn’t,  I can see this working in Forte’s favor. Hear me out.

If Forte sits out the rest of the season and the Bears don’t make the playoffs, Forte doesn’t have to play anymore for the rest of the year and can focus on free agency. Some might say that Forte needs to continue to play to keep his contract hopes up. I disagree. If Forte is out from now until spring training he will be viewed as refreshed. No one in their right mind is going to forget this man was 50% of his team’s offense, handled himself like a professional at all times, and never avoided contact despite having reason to do so.

The rumors were that the Bears offered or at least floated 14 million guaranteed and that wasn’t enough for Forte. I don’t know how true this is…but he can probably get at least 14 million guaranteed in free agency so turning down the first 14 million is not likely to hurt him if this pans out the way it can. Of course all of this is moot if the Bears make the playoffs and go deep into the post season. But there’s a good chance that won’t happen if Cutler misses the rest of the regular season.

The flipside of this is that Forte comes back from injury and isn’t as good OR he’s just as good but is seen as worn down from a season with entirely too heavy a load. Can’t win for trying sometimes. There are so many scenarios good and bad…of course I think we all hope that Forte can come back, do well and get the contract he deserves without a whole bunch of other machinations.

Either way, I don’t think Forte should rush back if you know what I’m saying. *wink wink - rib jab*

Troy Polamalu became latest big name player to sign bigger contract

NFL owners continue to make it rain on their best players-wait…are we still saying make it rain or did that go out of style when Bryant Gumbel said it to Pacman Jones? Oh well whatever. Lots of money being thrown around this week. Now, Pittsburgh Steelers Safety Troy Polamalu and his gorgeous flowing locks are getting their jackpot.

Polamalu’s contract is “expected” to average out to a little more than 9 million dollars per season, but the ink isn’t dry yet so the details haven’t been announced. I’ll update this post when I have more information and a strong opinion on it. For now, enjoy this photo the Steelers posted of Polamalu in the airport making the new terms official as they head out to play their fiercest rival, the Baltimore Ravens IN Baltimore today.

Running Back Adrian Peterson's contract guarantees him a cool 36 million

I love when Darren Rovell and his folks over at Sportsbiz get the calculators out. Last time, I posted their interesting numbers on the Brett Favre texting scandal. But this time, they did it for Adrian Peterson, who, with his new deal is set to make “$9227 per rushing yard based on historical averages.” Pretty astounding numbers. Peterson beats out Chris Johnson by a smidge in terms of guaranteed money and salary per season.

A little perspective: Adrian had about 8 million dollars left on his current deal. His new deal piggybacks (oo I hate that phrase) on the last deal.

Peterson’s contract extension with the Vikings includes $36 million in guaranteed money and as much as $100 million over the next seven years if he plays that long with Minnesota.

Peterson has begun the final year of his rookie deal on a $10.72 million salary and was in prime position for a big payday.

After setting the NFL’s single-game rushing record with 296 yards against San Diego in 2007, Peterson has been picked for the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons.

Lots of people complaining about big money to a running back, especially given the fact that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf has been BEGGING for a new stadium and crying poor about it. But let’s remember, the odds of Peterson playing for 7 more years (for ANY team) aren’t very high. He’d be 33 years old on the last year of his deal. For his sake, I hope he has a career with as much longevity as someone like LaDainian Tomlinson, who is currently 32 and still going fairly strong, but those types of careers at that position aren’t common.

The talks about our sister North American country Canada getting an NFL team in Toronto have been going on for a while but now they’re heating up. Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford has been touting Toronto as the next big NFL destination and claiming that the NFL and CFL can coexist in the same market.

“I like both. I think both leagues are great,” said the mayor, disagreeing that a Toronto NFL team could hurt fan support for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. “There are a lot of football fans here. I’m here today to support the CFL.”

The mayor spoke of his excitement for Toronto’s 100th Grey Cup Festival and the financial boom that will result from the game in 2012 and the nine-day festival that will celebrate it.

But the Ford brothers have often made headlines by saying the are chasing an NFL team and trying to host a Super Bowl. The city councillor said earlier this month Toronto may acquire the Saints from New Orleans, which prompted the Saints to issue a press release calling the notion “completely false.”

To begin, I don’t think the Saints are moving. I have no insider information or reason to state this other than that the Saints survived a very economically depressed period after Hurricane Katrina. Despite many New Orleans residents being displaced, attendance was still competitive with the rest of the league. In fact, the Saints reported that their waiting list was 50K names strong back in 2010.

Saints owner Tom Benson is pretty well invested into the city of New Orleans and the Saints remain one of the teams that are less in debted than others. Besides a slight stadium controversy (and really what city doesn’t have or hasn’t had one) the Saints seem on pretty sure footing. With the economy being what it is, it just seems unlikey for the NFL to move a team on solid ground.

That being said, I wouldn’t rule out Toronto getting a team; but I would, however, rule out the NFL and CFL being able to co-exist. The Toronto Sun explicitly said that Mayor Ford HAS to choose between the NFL and CFL and I think they’re right.

They make the case that a Toronto NFL team would actually make the CFL stronger because the sport of football would become more popular north of the border. Both leagues would prosper. And yes, if you believe that, you are buying that the Argos are solid at QB going into the 2011 season.

I often get the feeling that Toronto’s NFL supporters (at least the ones who have a soft spot for the CFL) say this because it makes them feel better. No CFL blood on their hands. Others, it’s for political calculation.

Picture the sight of Tom Brady or a Peyton Manning coming to town, or even a Monday Night Football game in Toronto: the comings and goings of the Double Blue will become a mere speck on the Toronto sports scene-a hyper-competitive market where they have struggled for the past 30 years.

It is easy to predict media coverage would drastically diminish for the Argos. Ticket revenue and corporate sponsorship would shrink. The highway to Double Blue irrelevancy would be paved in red ink. (Yes, way more red ink than they have now.)

If you’re interested in this topic I think this is a good article to read. For a city/country that doesn’t have an NFL team I think they covered the potential issues the NFL would have with the mayor/city (rogue behavior) and the issues Canada might have with the NFL (wasting tax payer dollars that have been invested in the CFL).

But the bottom line is just like Canada wanted “in” on the NBA, they will want in on the NFL and the best professional football talent and probably soon. The question is how much they’re willing to sacrifice to get it and can they invest tax payer dollars into TWO leagues. NFL teams come at high costs to the host cities and aren’t typically the economic boon they purport to be. Not to mention the tightly controlled ownership and advertising issues that come along with the NFL that will surely squeeze the CFL out of contention.

I can guess that the NFL would come up with some crazy rule to keep the CFL from showing games on Sundays and Mondays? That alone would gravely impact the CFL schedule and viewership in the most crucial part of football seasons-the halfway marker and beyond.

The NFL has began to consider allowing teams to “reduce seating capacity” to avoid blackouts. For those who don’t know, if attendance doesn’t meet specified numbers, home games are blacked out in the city in question. They even discussed whether or not to lift the covers during high demand games and to put them back during low demands. Way to manipulate the system! (Oh and also great decision to use the term “manifests” as a code word for “empty seats.”)

THIS PISSES ME OFF.

NFL game tickets are entirely too expensive for the average fan to afford. Most fans do not attend games because between ticket prices, food, parking, and traffic, it becomes more of a hassle than anything. Especially with stations like FOX steadily making noticeable improvements to broadcast quality.

The incentive to attend a game is rather low. That would be fine IF cities weren’t paying for these stadiums with public tax dollars. If you are  taxpayer in an area with a stadium, chances are whether you attend a game or not, you’ve contributed to the NFL’s presence in your city. Why shouldn’t you be able to watch local games?

Sportsfans.org says:

Last year, there were 26 blackouts in the NFL, all in stadiums that were publicly financed. So fans who helped pay for the stadium but couldn’t afford the ever-increasing price of tickets couldn’t even see the games on television.

I really don’t have the words to express how angry it makes me that covering seats is more widely discussed among owners than lowered ticket prices or even getting rid of the blackout rule altogether. Even some combination of lowered ticket prices and seat coverings would be preferable, I mean who wants the eventual experience of watching a game with empty seats? Even the energy in the stadium would be affected.

In the interest of fairness AND for the long term health of the game, the NFL should be seeking to make professional football more accessible to those who fund and support it. In fact, that is partly their argument for these fancy stadiums they want to build even though most of the seats end up in the hands of corporations. (A few weeks back, Darren Rovell of CNBC’s Sports Biz said “Corporations own about 90% of NFL suites & premium seats, 20% of lower level seats & 5% of upper level.”)

At any rate, whether we do so with tax payer dollars, by watching ads, or buying NFL gear, WE the public finance this game in some manner. Owners don’t seem to care or understand this fact. And their discussions surrounding seat capacity all but prove it.