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

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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

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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

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City of Angels

Interview International Business Times. (See the xl attachments for all images) -Why does it seem teams want to go to LA in 2016, compared with recent years and two decades ago? What are the major selling points? -What are the economic benefits or drawbacks of a move to LA for the three franchises and the…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 12, 2016 in National Football League

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Future Fading Fast In Toronto

Interview with the Toronto Star.  – With the momentum in Los Angeles, and with the seeming excitement around London, is there any way to assess where Toronto might stand as it relates to the queue for an NFL franchise? LA and GTA are the two major elephant-in-the-room missing pieces in the NFL expansion-relocation-extortion game that…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 8, 2016 in National Football League

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Size of the Fight in the Dog

Interview with the AP. I’m working on a story about the Rams’ effort to move to LA. The team’s relocation application was made available and it is very critical of the economic viability of the St. Louis market. I’m hoping you can tell me if this might have ramifications for St. Louis down the road…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 6, 2016 in National Football League

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LA Triplets

Interview with NBC. What addressable market does Los Angeles have for NFL football, both in terms of viewership and attendance? Attachments: Market size. Alternative futures. LA is obviously valuable as the second largest TV market in North America, but TV ratings and viewership for sporting events is typically lower in LA compared to other mega-markets…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 5, 2016 in National Football League

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Tres Amigos

Interview with LA News Group.  3 Amigos There are two stadium proposals Rams owner Stan Kroenke plans to build a new $1.9 billion stadium/residential/retail complex at the site of Hollywood Park, a former horse racing venue. The Chargers and Raiders have another proposal for a $1.7 billion stadium project in Carson. I found an economic…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 3, 2016 in National Football League

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Art of the Goldman Deal

Interview with LA Times. Basically I’m looking for experts in stadium financing, municipal finance, investment banking, etc., to talk with about the big banks get out of these deals, how they design them, why teams use them and what it means for the cities/states/taxpayers that are often party to these deals as well. Goldman Sachs…

Posted by John Vrooman on May 23, 2015 in National Football League

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3 Futures for the Bolts

Interview with San Diego Union-Tribune.  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 another…

Posted by John Vrooman on May 21, 2015 in National Football League

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Much Ado ‘Bout Nothin’

Interview with CNBC.  What reason would the NFL have for cutting out this policy after a season in which there were no blackouts? The long sought blackout policy change is largely a cosmetic attempt to deflect mounting anti-blackout political pressure from the US Congress and to reflect negative blow-back from the FCC ruling limiting blackouts…

Posted by John Vrooman on March 24, 2015 in National Football League

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More Playoffs

Interview with Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Full graphics (XL File) Basically, I wanted to see if I could gauge 1) how much in additional revenue two more playoff games would provide via the networks. Currently the 3 NFL TV networks (excluding ESPN) are paying between $2.00 and $2.50 per viewer in regular season TV rights 2014-22. CBS recently…

Posted by John Vrooman on February 20, 2015 in National Football League

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Money on Hollywood Park

Interview with LA Times.  Bolts and Raiders ain’t gonna happen. My money is still riding on Kroenke’s Hollywood Park express. V.  Guessing by now you’ve heard about the Chargers/Raiders stadium plan in Carson. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-nfl-stadium-20150220-story.html#page=1 Any thoughts on how the economics of this sort of thing might work out? The Chargers and Raiders are probably blowing…

Posted by John Vrooman on February 20, 2015 in National Football League

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Yin-Yang of Sports

Interview with Pacific Standard. Without sport, it seems, America would be a much different place. What would America look like without organized and professional sport? In a hypothetical America without organized sports we would probably no longer exist. As derived from our societal DNA, organized sport reflects  the basic duality of western man and the…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 12, 2015 in National Football League

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LA Extortion Triangle

Interview with NY Times. NFL Stadium Package. Mostly what I wanted to ask John about is if it makes sense — given the role the TV deals play in NFL economics — for a team to move to Los Angeles if it will have to pay for construction of a new stadium, land, practice facility…

Posted by John Vrooman on November 8, 2014 in National Football League

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Taking Credit for Dawn

Interview with New York Times Magazine. ** First, I’d definitely want to know your take on the concussions and as they relate to the tax exempt status. In the not so favorable light of the recent series of public relations blunders the non-profit tax exempt status of the NFL has once again been called into…

Posted by John Vrooman on October 16, 2014 in National Football League

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Panthers Price

Interview with Charlotte Observer. – The Bills recently sold for $1.4 billion. How much could a franchise like the Panthers go for? I pegged the final auction prices of $1.4 billion for the Buffalo Bills last month and $2 billion for the LA Clippers 2 months ago by using the following fool-proof blind-squirrel-finding-acorn method. Annual…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 30, 2014 in National Football League

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Under the Bus

Interview with CBC. So far, the actions sponsors have taken seem to be pretty tame and largely confined to statements or directed at individual players rather than entire teams (aside from Radisson) or the league. Do you foresee advertisers taking stronger action or actually pulling ads from game telecasts over the domestic abuse issue? Yes…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 21, 2014 in National Football League

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The Untouchables

Interview with Sports Illustrated.  So far, we’ve seen NFL sponsors say they are watching the situation with the league and its handling of the Ray Rice incident but no company has disassociated itself. What does that say about the value sponsors place on their connection to the NFL? In the sports business world the NFL is…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 19, 2014 in National Football League

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Tale of two Optima

Interview with Bloomberg. Is the current controversy swirling around the NFL likely to do any real economic damage to the league either in the short or long term? The NFL is economically bulletproof from political scandal and misconduct from players to owners. NFL players have zero power individually and collectively. After losing every bargaining confrontation…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 18, 2014 in National Football League

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Lords of the Realm

Interview with Washington Post. Roger Goodell is the paid enabler for the 32 lords of the NFL realm. To give this expendable front man credit for NFL’s revenue growth would be like giving the rooster credit for dawn. Art Modell once said that NFL owners are a bunch of fat cat Republicans who vote socialist on football. The League’s revenue…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 16, 2014 in National Football League

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Buffaloed

Interview with Associated Press. A prospective ownership group that includes rocker Jon Bon Jovi has conducted a feasibility study to buy the Buffalo Bills and build a stadium in Toronto. This raises fears that the group is interested in buying and relocating the franchise. Not looking to you to confirm any of this. Simply seeking…

Posted by John Vrooman on August 7, 2014 in National Football League

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Extortion Triangle in Toronto

Interview with the Toronto Star. I’m doing a story about the sale of the Buffalo Bills, and was hoping you might have some time to chat today about what might be some motivating factors for the league, the Wilson estate, and the advantages/disadvantages of the various bidding groups. I’ve spent the last while reading your…

Posted by John Vrooman on August 1, 2014 in National Football League

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2027

Interview with USA Today. Revenue Pie 2014. –The league takes in about $10 billion revenue annually. Any idea how that pie breaks down in categories? I’ve read that $4-5 billion comes from TV rights. –The league projects getting up to $25 billion in revenue by 2027. Given the market trends, is this realistic? How do…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 23, 2014 in National Football League

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