[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 70Chip

I think one point that Snyder should push in terms of revenue sharing relates to public financing of stadiums and facilities. Mr. Cooke spent about 300 million dollars on the Redskins Stadium in the nineties. Since then Mr. S has spent 100 million or more on additional improvements. P.G. County paid for some infrastucture improvements, access roads, etc. Around the same time, Denver succeeded in convincing local voters to authorize funding for their current home Invesco Field. A number of other localities (Baltimore, Cleveland) have done the same for their teams. In terms of real revenue the Redskins are actually operating a defecit as it pertains to these teams. When voters give a team a 500 million dollar stadium shouldn't that be regarded as revenue for that team and payed back to other clubs under a revenue sharing regime? Its not as though the skybox money goes back to the city or state. The team keeps that money. The team may not technically own the stadium, but they benefit from it just as though they did. This is a huge windfall.

The reality is that what the less entrepenuerial owners want is not revenue sharing but rather revenue redistribution. When its to their benefit they sing the "we have to do what's best for everyone" tune. In circumstances where they benefit from operating unilaterally, as in the example above, they seem to have a less egalitarian spirit.

While there are unique situations like New Orleans where teams face legitimate financial hardships, most teams should be creating ample revenue on their own. Is Paul Brown's name more sacred than Mr. Cooke's? Not to me. Cincinatti could sell the naming rights for at least as much as the Redskins did. They choose not to. Furthermore, we have to face the reality that N.O. may no longer be a sustainable market. Teams have moved before.

In the end any additional revenue sharing should be limited to revenue streams that all teams necessarily engage in. These might include radio, preseason ticket, preseason television, concessions, and even parking. Maybe these disincentives will have the unintended benefit of stabilizing the costs to fans. Again, an owner may say why raise prices and anger fans if I'm not getting the money? As Redskins fans that's the most we can hope for.

Finally, am I wrong in assuming that some owners are now using the possibility of an unrenewed CBA as a threat to pry concessions on revenue from other owners? I would really appreciate some instructive engagement from those of you who are so well versed in the financial aspects of all this.

I agree with your example regarding stadium naming rights and such. And I'd agree that revenue sharing should be limited to business activities common to every franchise. But that's already largely in place as it is; TV revenues make up for the largest portion of the shared revenue as it is now. The owners are certainly going to argue about stadium naming revenue and items like this, because a few extra million dollars means a lot to them. But it shouldn't mean a lot to us fans, because it doesn't have a big impact on the size of the salary cap. TV Revenues are what really drive the salary cap.