Sports Econ Blog
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
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
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
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
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
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
Whole Other Level
Interview with Pacific Standard.
Posted by John Vrooman on September 14, 2015 in National Basketball Association
Out of the Money
Interview with USA Today / and CNBC NHL Expansion/Relocation. How valuable is the Las Vegas market for any sports league? What do you see as Las Vegas’ strengths and weaknesses as a market Las Vegas is probably beyond the economic edge for expansion of any of the 4 major NA sports leagues. This is probably from…
Posted by John Vrooman on July 19, 2015 in National Hockey League
NHL For Sale
Interview with Pittsburgh Tribune. Expansion Proposal. I’m working on a story about the possible sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Hurricanes have been on the market for at least a year, and the Penguins announced seven months ago they were exploring a sale but nothing has materialized. Some deals made in recent years managed to…
Posted by John Vrooman on July 11, 2015 in National Hockey League
Stop Moaning about Pay
Interview with Daily Beast. I’m working on a story about the economics of women’s sports pegged to USA winning the Women’s World Cup and the kerfuffle over the pay gap. Many of the numbers that have been cited are indeed shocking. For instance, this from the Washington Post But the financial rewards for women’s teams and their players…
Posted by John Vrooman on July 10, 2015 in Major League Soccer
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
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
Playoff Money
Interview with International Business Times. — How does the revenue a NBA franchise earns from a single playoff series compare to the regular amount of money it earns during the regular season? The basic rule of thumb is that a playoff team grosses about $1 million per home playoff game. The big difference is that…
Posted by John Vrooman on April 17, 2015 in National Basketball Association
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
Puck on the Net
Interview with NY Times. Would you, even almost 20 years after hockey came to Nashville, characterize it as a niche sport here? Yes, but this is true for almost all markets after the original 6 plus the next 6 clubs. Outside of these 12 markets hockey is considered a boutique sport with specialized but devout…
Posted by John Vrooman on February 25, 2015 in National Hockey League
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
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
Empty Threats
Interview with Tampa Tribune. Bad news and good news. The bad news is that these veiled and not so veiled relocation threats extorting public concessions are standard operating procedure by all of the major sports league cartels. In this case the new MLB commissioner is following the usual old script written by a league of…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 28, 2015 in Major League Baseball
Exploitation of Kevin Durant
Interview with CNBC. KD Salary structure (updated) What would a major player like Kevin Durant be worth in a league without salary caps? Is his salary fair now? The NBA has essentially 3 salary caps. Since 1984 Each team has faced a soft salary cap (it can be exceeded for a variety of reasons)at 49-51%…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 23, 2015 in National Basketball Association
Ticket Drive Test
Interview with USA Today. Expansion Theory. How valuable is the Las Vegas market for any sports league? What do you see as Las Vegas’ strengths and weaknesses as a market Las Vegas is probably beyond the economic edge for expansion of any of the 4 major NA sports leagues. This is probably from both the…
Posted by John Vrooman on January 15, 2015 in National Hockey League
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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