Playoff Payoff

Interview with Fiscal Times.  Is Ohio State one of the few college sports programs that is profitable?   Also, are the benefits that schools see from events like the college football championship such as rising applications fleeting? No all of the Power 5 programs are in the black, it is the bottom half of the…

Posted by John Vrooman on January 3, 2015 in NCAA Football

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Inaugural CFP

Interview with CNBC 12/23/2014 Working on a story about the economics of the College Football Playoff. I’m looking at sponsorship, ads, TV deals and other revenue sources to attempt to gauge how big of a commercial event it will be this year and in the future. I’m also trying to gauge where it stands in…

Posted by John Vrooman on December 29, 2014 in NCAA Football

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Baseball Capitalism

Interview with Pacific Standard.  I’m writing a story on the future for Cuban baseball, now that the embargo has been lifted. I’m wondering what this will mean for the MLB? Do you foresee a huge influx of Cuban talent now? What about the relocation of a floundering team? And from an economics standpoint, what do…

Posted by John Vrooman on December 23, 2014 in Major League Baseball

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World Cup Fever

Interview with Financial Times. Just wanted to ask you whether growth in interest in the World Cup and men’s national team (plus, the addition of new foreign stars to the MLS) was a breakthrough for soccer in the US. Unfortunately US interest in the men’s national team peaks with the onset of the World Cup…

Posted by John Vrooman on November 24, 2014 in Major League Soccer

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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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Winning Streak

Interview with CBS.  The NHL has almost doubled its revenue since 2006.  What’s the secret to its success? The NHL last added nine clubs in 9 years in their ill-fated sun-belt expansion from 1991 – 1999. This caused an explosion in payrolls from 56 percent of revenue to over 75 percent by 2003-04. This immediately…

Posted by John Vrooman on November 7, 2014 in National Hockey 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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World Cup Kool-Aid

Interview with Florida Trend.  Everyone’s talking about the World Cup and that now is professional soccer’s moment to rise to the top tier of spectator sport in the U.S. Do you agree or are we all drinking the Kool-aid? I think you’ve spoken in the past about the World Cup giving a boost for a…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 10, 2014 in Major League Soccer

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International Balance of Talent

Interview with Fortune Magazine Transfer spending is analogous to the international balance of trade, where wealthy leagues usually import more talent than lower revenue domestic leagues. The bad news is that wealthy leagues like EPL have an adverse transfer balance but the good news is that the transfer deficits directly reflect the relative economic power…

Posted by John Vrooman on September 9, 2014 in UEFA Football

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Continental Drift

Interview with CNBC.  How does a league decide how many teams it should have? Is the MLS being smart with a jump from 19 teams now, to a planned 24 by 2020? After a critical mass is formed usually in multiples of 8, a sports league will expand as long as the marginal (extra) benefits…

Posted by John Vrooman on August 8, 2014 in Major League Soccer

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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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Basketball Jones

Interview with CBS and Associated Press. I am writing for CBS about Steve Ballmer’s purchase of the Clippers. Is the $2 billion purchase price a good deal? Here’s what I told you in the last interview:  There is a perfect storm brewing for the value of the LA Clippers to approach $1 billion. First, if the…

Posted by John Vrooman on May 30, 2014 in National Basketball Association

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Unification of European Football

Interview with Fortune Magazine. 1) What in the economic set-up in European football makes it so much more top-heavy with the big teams in terms of success? (this obviously is a big question and much of it can be dug out of your paper and others, but if I could get a few pithy sentences…

Posted by John Vrooman on May 27, 2014 in UEFA Football

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Do the Right Thing

Interview with Associated Press. I am working on a story about the NBA’s handling of the Donald Sterling race comments. I’m trying to get to the bottom of just what the league had to lose if it didn’t respond decisively and favorably in the eyes of its players, coaches and, almost as important, its sponsors….

Posted by John Vrooman on May 4, 2014 in National Basketball Association

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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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