John's blog posts
Checkers or Chess
Interview with Arizona Republic. A state bill here in AZ that would have Arizona join a national compact forbidding the use of taxpayer money for new professional sports facilities or renovations to existing ones. The compact would not take effect until 24 other states adopted it, the goal being that sports teams could no longer…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 12, 2018 in National Football League
Super Bowl High
Interview with Philadelphia Biz Report. I am hoping to get a comment from you on what (finally) winning a Super Bowl will do for the valuation of the Philadelphia Eagles. In the short run, NFL values are a simple function of market size and the certainty of cash flow from luxury seat cash cow venues….
Posted by John Vrooman on February 5, 2018 in National Football League
All-Star Gambit
Interview with Charlotte Biz Journal. I’m writing about the one-year mark before the NBA All-Star Game is played here in Charlotte. The impact estimates are between $60 million and $100 million and I’m fairly sure you have questioned the credibility of such estimates. My questions for you: what do you think a more realistic value…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 5, 2018 in National Basketball Association
Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later
Interview with NY Daily News. 1. Tom Brady is widely regarded as the best player in history at the most important position in all of sports. Yet over 18 seasons, he’s only been the highest-paid QB in the NFL one time (according to salary cap hit). And in six of the past seven seasons, as…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 4, 2018 in National Football League
Mobile Will Be Fine
Interview with AL.com. Plenty has been written about and discussed on how relocations are often not a bad thing for the losing cities, but what about minor league relocations? Are these often a bad deal for the winning cities because of the expectations of economic development and synergy that supposedly accompanies a new stadium? Or,…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 1, 2018 in Major League Baseball
Keep Pounding Carolina
Interview with Charlotte Observer. Keep pounding, Carolina. Given the current ownership structure of the Panthers and ongoing renovations (and lease agreements) at BOA, the new majority ownership partner will probably be from or have strong financial ties to sweet home Carolina, and the Panthers are not likely to engage a credible franchise-relocation stadium-extortion game for…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 29, 2018 in National Football League
Golden Knights Rising
Interview with Bleacher Report. Are you surprised by the fan support this year? In the past, you’ve referred to Vegas as a “sham” market. Obviously the attendance success shouldn’t change the economic makeup of the city, but do you still stick by this or is there more heft behind them than you originally thought? Should…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 24, 2018 in National Hockey League
Panthers Partners
Interview with Charlotte Observer. I am looking at the limited partners who are part of the ownership group with Jerry Richardson and explaining how these partnerships can work. My understanding is that Jerry clearly runs the show, although these partners still own a significant stake. I was wondering if you might have thoughts on how…
Posted by John Vrooman on December 26, 2017 in National Football League
Rest Easy Carolina
Interview with Charlotte Biz Journal. Mike Ozanian of Forbes tells us the current NFL franchise market is soft with 3 to 8 franchises either on the market or coming soon. One fourth of the NFL being placed on the block is a stretch even if league ownership is rapidly aging, but I would agree with…
Posted by John Vrooman on December 18, 2017 in National Football League
NFL in Mexico
Interview with NY Times. what makes mexico tempting and worthy of at least trying games there (after a gap of several years since 2005). I understand the NFL wants to grow but what factors in Mexico make that worthy of testing and what financial dividends might there be? There are already more NFL fans in…
Posted by John Vrooman on November 17, 2017 in National Football League
Too Much TV
Interview with Milwaukee Journal Sentenel. Why have NFL revenues increased so much faster than those of the corporate sector as a whole? The NFL is a natural cartel that exerts major monopoly power over its die-hard fans, media outlets and general taxpayers. By artificially limiting the number of franchises the League is able to maximize…
Posted by John Vrooman on November 4, 2017 in National Football League
Semi-Pro Money Machine
Interview with Louisville Biz First. I’m wondering about the potential economic impact to the city and university after what has befallen the university of Louisville’s basketball program. Any thoughts? Usually a D1 college basketball program has little or no impact on the local economy one way or the other, but in the case of University…
Posted by John Vrooman on September 28, 2017 in NCAA Basketball
Pyramid Scheme
Interview with ESPN FC. What’s the optimal size of the league for the number of teams? In terms of supply and demand and market support, should it keep expanding? This is a trick question, because there are two different league expansion optima. The first is based on the league size that would maximize internal total…
Posted by John Vrooman on September 11, 2017 in Major League Soccer
Stone Cold Money
Interview with Houston Chronicle. Most of the increase in NBA values across the board is the anticipation in the tripling of rights fees in the new media rights deals with ESPN and Turner 2016-25. When TV rights went from $29 million to 81.25 million per club the values of the clubs all increased by as…
Posted by John Vrooman on September 5, 2017 in National Basketball Association
Great Divide
Interview with Deadspin. Deadspin XL / Deadspin growth / Growth XL The Brown family and the Bengals have long made it well-known that there’s a revenue divide between the NFL’s large-market and small-market teams. Even now, when revenues are through the roof thanks to the league’s national TV-rights deal, Troy Blackburn says the smaller markets have a…
Posted by John Vrooman on August 18, 2017 in National Football League
St. Louis v. NFL
Interview with Bloomberg News Is this suit unique/unusual in the history of litigation over NFL franchise moves? No, the City of Cleveland successfully sued the NFL after the relocation of the relocation of the original Browns to Baltimore Ravens in 1996. In the relocation extortion case the NFL settled with the City of Cleveland by…
Posted by John Vrooman on July 12, 2017 in National Football League
Perfect Balance
Interview with FOX Business. Hoping you can send over a few thoughts via email for a quick piece comparing the World Series ratings to the NFL’s current struggles. -Are strong World Series ratings (despite overall ratings slowdown in sports) evidence that live events are still a major draw? Yes, MLB has found the optimal competitive…
Posted by John Vrooman on July 6, 2017 in Major League Baseball
Perfect Storm
Interview with La Presse 5/31/17 Perfect Storm Graphics This last decade has been a slow developing perfect storm for the Smashville Preds, both on and off the ice. The confluence of favorable events began with a last ditch local ownership flip in 2007-08 and a recommitment to keeping the Preds in a non-traditional sun-belt midmarket,…
Posted by John Vrooman on May 31, 2017 in National Hockey League
Smashville
Interview with Nashville Biz Journal -What’s the difference, economic impact-wise and team finances-wise, of the Predators making the Stanley Cup Final, as opposed to just having a moderately successful playoff run? The classic rule of thumb in the NHL is that clubs break even on average over the regular season, and then generate positive in…
Posted by John Vrooman on May 16, 2017 in National Hockey League
The Golden Goose
Interview with ESPN. NBA’s Golden Goose What goes up must come down. The salary cap (max salary) explosion in the NBA caused by a tripling in media revenues (see attached) will be ultimately countered by an implosion in media right fees for ESPN and conventional (cable) sport broadcasting. The NBA has attached its future to…
Posted by John Vrooman on March 29, 2017 in National Basketball Association
Desert Locked
Interview with ESPN. What kind of impact can the Raiders’ move to Vegas have on the Cardinals – whether it be taking away fan interest or travelers who visit Phoenix for games? With the opportunistic, public money-grabbing relocation of the Oakland/LA/Oakland Raiders to Sin City, the Southwest desert is about to get real crowded with…
Posted by John Vrooman on March 27, 2017 in National Football League
Big Gamble in Vegas
Interview series on Vegas as NHL expansion market. Vegas Review Journal Preds v Titans comparison Initially the NHL Nashville Preds surprisingly held their own against the NFL Tennessee Titans, but it soon became apparent that the novelty of hockey in a non-traditional sun-belt hockey market was risky business. Both NFL and NHL teams rely heavily…
Posted by John Vrooman on March 27, 2017 in National Hockey League
Relocation-Extortion Game
Interview with Bisnow / Noll & Zim What role does the league franchise system play in NFL team relocation? The important legal and economic question about the NFL ultimately reduces to whether the League is the single entity firm with teams as operational franchises or the teams are instead several and separate competing firms. The Supreme…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 4, 2017 in National Football League
NFL Secrets to Success
Interview with Finanz und Wirtschaft. What makes the NFL so successful as a business model? The NFL is a perfectly syndicated and fully diversified sports league cartel because of extensive revenue sharing among natural competitors. As a means for its own survival the NFL business model of “league think” was formed a half century ago…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 3, 2017 in National Football League, UEFA Football
Stay or Go in San Diego
Interview with San Diego Times Union. I’m researching a column about the state of play facing Dean Spanos as he decides among three options: 1) Forego or seek to extend the L.A. option and stay in San Diego, under the Qualcomm lease that expires in 2020. 2) Stay in San Diego, pursue stadium deal for…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 6, 2017 in National Football League
Out-kicking the Coverage
Interview with Charlotte Observer. — Do you think concussions are currently hurting the NFL as a business, whether it’s ratings or fan interest? What damage could it do to the business going forward? Yes, NFL TV ratings are declining due to a complex combination of a variety of factors including media oversaturation of game broadcasts,…
Posted by John Vrooman on November 28, 2016 in National Football League
Breath of Fresh Air
Interview with Florida Times-Union Jaguars Financial Charts. (XL) I’m doing a story looking at the five years of ownership of the Jaguars by Shad Khan from a business standpoint – how well he has operated the team as a business, how well he has done with a) building equity in the team, and b) increasing local…
Posted by John Vrooman on November 17, 2016 in National Football League
Real Sports
Interview with HBO Real Sports HBO Package PSL’s: Can you give me a quick background on the PSL’s vis-à-vis taxes. I have a sense (but not sure if I’m right) that a team sells these PSL’s but then doesn’t pay any taxes on them because technically they’re PSL’s for a public entity. So if the…
Posted by John Vrooman on November 8, 2016 in National Football League
TV Bubble
Interview with CBS. I am looking for commentary on the NFL’s ratings decline. Have the media companies paid too much for the broadcast rights in recent years and are now paying the price? Sports TV Bubble Yes the artificial sports TV bubble may not have yet burst, but it has sprung a considerable leak, particularly…
Posted by John Vrooman on October 27, 2016 in National Football League
Equal Pay for Better Play
Interview with 60 minutes. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on USWNT’s case with the EEOC. What are the strongest arguments for USSF? How could a decision affect other industries and situations? What’s at stake? As devil’s advocate for US Soccer in the pending EEOC case the equal-pay-for-equal-work defense should probably follow a strategy of…
Posted by John Vrooman on October 20, 2016 in Major League Soccer
Off the Market
Interview with Pittsburgh Tribune. I’m writing a story today about the Penguins no longer being for sale. I noticed there hasn’t been a franchise sold in the big four sports in the U.S. since the Atlanta Hawks in 2015. I wondered if there was something going on in the big picture to slow down the…
Posted by John Vrooman on October 13, 2016 in National Hockey League
Boycott in Charlotte
Series of Interviews with Charlotte Observer and Charlotte Biz Journal. The economic threat of the additional loss of NCAA and ACC tournaments from HB2 is now becoming critically real in the research triangle and will soon be realized throughout Carolina sports heaven. The love of sports super-cedes political divisions and unites all of Carolina, and…
Posted by John Vrooman on September 29, 2016 in National Basketball Association
European Super League
Interview with La Stampa (Turin) Proposed Superliga Theory of the Beautiful Game I read some of your publications on a future of European Football Super League. In recent days, Agnelli (Juventus) and Rummenigge (Bayern) have spoken about it: I want to know what you think about. It would be a good solution the creation of…
Posted by John Vrooman on September 13, 2016 in UEFA Football
League Think
Interview with CBS. How important has revenue-sharing been to the league’s success? Was the NFL the first of the pro sports leagues to share revenue amongst its teams? The seismic shift in the economics of the nfl was the sports broadcasting act of 1961 where congress exempted the NFL, rival AFL and other major…
Posted by John Vrooman on September 8, 2016 in National Football League
Internal Profit Contradiction
Interview with Sports Illustrated. SI: I thought it was high time I replied to several of your terrific observations/responses. Feel free to respond to MY responses with more sublime riffs: Vrooman: “My first question is whether the hypothetical cataclysm is about the sudden absence of NFL football or NCAA D1 football or high school or pop warner…all…
Posted by John Vrooman on August 31, 2016 in National Football League
Deep in the Heart
Interview with San Antonio Biz Journal. I have been covering for more than two years the Oakland Raiders’ interest in San Antonio, which has waned of late because of Mark Davis’ infatuation with Las Vegas. I have included other sports economists in previous reporting and wanted to get your insight for my next story. The…
Posted by John Vrooman on July 19, 2016 in National Football League
Hockey in the Desert
Interview with Las Vegas Sun. NHL Expansion/Relocation. Bottom line: NHL hockey can and will probably survive, but not thrive in Las Vegas. It is highly doubtful that the expected cash flow from more hockey in the Desert can justify the bloated expansion sticker price of $500 million, which is the current average value of an…
Posted by John Vrooman on June 27, 2016 in National Hockey League
Pens Playoff Paradox
Interview with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. How rare is it in sports that a team previously put up for sale ended up winning the championship? I can’t find much on this. It is not very common for a winning club to go on the market, as a matter of fact the reverse is more likely to be…
Posted by John Vrooman on June 17, 2016 in National Hockey League
Season Ticket Pricing
Interview with Inc. Magazine Season Ticket Strategy I wanted to learn more about the differences between the ticket pricing strategies of the Golden State Warriors and the Dallas Mavericks. The ticket prices for the Warriors seem to have increased significantly over the past few years as their popularity has increased. Mark Cuban’s strategy with the…
Posted by John Vrooman on June 9, 2016 in National Basketball Association, Sports Econ Blog
How Not to Build a Ball Park
Interview with Tampa Bay Times. I am researching a piece on what lessons the Rays could learn from the mistakes made with Marlins Park. I don’t know if you are familiar with the issues. Some of the problems I’ve heard about are low crowds, poor location and a bad deal for taxpayers. Anything that you…
Posted by John Vrooman on May 1, 2016 in Major League Baseball
Inverse Power Rule
Interview with NBC. Power rule / XL Power rule We’re writing a quick story on what money NFL draft pick Laremy Tunsil may have left on the table with his Twitter video last night. Do you potentially have any projections on what he will make as the 13th pick, compared with what he could have…
Posted by John Vrooman on April 29, 2016 in National Football League
Money for Nothing
Interview with CNBC 3/2/16. NCAA Revenues / XL Charts After the modest compensation increases through cost of attendance funding and unlimited meals, how much more financial leverage exists within the NCAA to increase compensation for athletes? Depending on the outcome of Jenkins v. NCAA the recent cost of attendance (COA) adjustments which average about $4000 per…
Posted by John Vrooman on March 14, 2016 in NCAA Basketball
Cutting the Cord
Interview with AFP (French) / Portuguese. – Can you envision a subscription streaming platform (Netflix, Amazon) acquiring exclusive rights for a major sporting event or a league in the foreseeable future ? Cutting the cord and streaming is the future of all media (if not the present in some cases), and this is especially true for domestic…
Posted by John Vrooman on March 3, 2016 in National Football League
Rams need LA more than LA needs Rams
Interview with LA Times. Lots of enthusiasm in L.A. about the economic impact in Inglewood. Jobs, taxes, tourism. I don’t mean to piss on the parade, but even with a year-round commercial facility built into the plan, I’m skeptical. correctomundo What about the impact on nearby existing businesses? Monolithic NFL Stadiums are notoriously terrible economic…
Posted by John Vrooman on March 1, 2016 in National Football League
Tax Man Cometh
Interview with the Street. Can you explain some of the real economic factors the league SHOULD be looking at in determining how much to charge the Rams for moving to LA? Ironically the empty LA market has probably been more valuable to the NFL as the 3rd leg in a public stadium funding extortion triangle…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 17, 2016 in National Football League
Not Rocket Science
Interview with Raleigh News Observer. Hurricanes compared. * The Hurricanes owner, Peter Karmanos, announced in Sept. 2014 he would put his majority ownership stake on the market. Karmanos said at the time that the proper value for the franchise would be $400 million, or near what the Islanders were acquired for that year. Was this…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 16, 2016 in National Hockey League
Breaking Even
Interview with NBC. Vrooman general Super Bowl Comments 2/2016: NBC-SB / NFL-SB The NFL post season is at best a break even financial proposition for the participating clubs. For all NFL post season games (including the SB) all of the gate and media revenue are divided evenly among 32 teams in league after modest deductions (probably about 15…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 3, 2016 in National Football League
Super Bowl Paradox
General Super Bowl Statement 2/2016: Super Bowl profits The NFL post season is at best a break even financial proposition for the participating clubs. For all NFL post season games (including the SB) all of the gate and media revenue are divided evenly among 32 teams in league after modest deductions (probably about 15 percent of the…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 1, 2016 in National Football League
Behind the Shield
Interview with AFP. Graphs and Images (XLSX) – The NFL has experienced tremendous economic success but has been critized for its management of the CTE issue, domestic abuse cases and teams relocations. How would you assess the league management’s track record over the last few years ? The NFL is as much an internal and…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 1, 2016 in National Football League
Rams to LA
Interview with CNN. NFL Stadium Pack I am doing a story today about the Rams move to LA and would love to get your thoughts on why this ultimately wound up being the decision that the NFL owners approved. Would also love your perspective on Kroenke. The City of Angels is obviously valuable as the…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 13, 2016 in National Football League
©2024 Vanderbilt University · John Vrooman
Site Development: University Web Communications