Mark Cuban was right. NFL will implode on itself.

**filthflarnfilth** · 01-12-2017, 12:53 PM

Cuban said years ago that the arrogance and greed of the NFL would be its downfall. The move of the Chargers to LA is just one of the last nails in the coffin. From the wussification of the game to protect Brady and Manning to the inconsistent refereeing, to the emergence of the millenials, people are not feeling the NFL like they used to. And as of right now in this political climate, could you see the taxpayers of Md, building another stadium to replace M&T. I don't think so.

**HbgPARavenfan** · 01-12-2017, 12:59 PM

Originally Posted by filthflarnfilth

Cuban said years ago that the arrogance and greed of the NFL would be its downfall. The move of the Chargers to LA is just one of the last nails in the coffin. From the wussification of the game to protect Brady and Manning to the inconsistent refereeing, to the emergence of the millenials, people are not feeling the NFL like they used to. And as of right now in this political climate, could you see the taxpayers of Md, building another stadium to replace M&T. I don't think so.

I doubt it. Its still the most popular sport by a landslide. I dont think the teams really care where individual teams are, they make more money from the TV contract deals.... They are only going to increase.

look at the olympics. They lose money every year, the TV contracts keep going up no matter what

**Trackmaster** · 01-12-2017, 01:45 PM

The NFL had been exponentially growing for so long, it had to plateau at some point. But luckily for the league, its plateau'd as the biggest sports league in the world behind FIFA. And no, the NFL isn't catching FIFA anytime soon. But if you want to talk about implosion, with all of the scandals and corruption in that league, who knows, that might be a league that implodes.

The NFL has its issues, but its had such a winning streak over the years, and has already made a lot of great decisions. Unifying the 32 teams under one TV contract, nearly doing that with merchandise (except for the Cowboys), instead of having a farm system, using the 2nd most popular sports league in America to make sure that guys are already celebrities before they step on the field, the first league to take the salary cap seriously, making the draft as exciting as a live game, efforts to make almost all games televised on network TV, not saturating with too many game, getting cities to pay for their stadiums, a perfect balanced league of 32 teams, etc.

**GOTA** · 01-12-2017, 01:48 PM

If you want to see how the league is doing pay attention to how much the salary cap grows each year. The cap is tied to revenues. If it's moving up as at a fast rate then the NFL is growing at that same rate. As long as the cap keeping heading north the NFL is doing okay.

**Flacco's_Haircut** · 01-12-2017, 02:00 PM

It always bugs me how Mark Cuban keeps getting credit for his "bold prediction". I mean the league is approaching the glass ceiling of popularity within North America and concussions are becoming more and more of a factor. That alone will lead the league to profit stagnation (the cap is tied to revenue, not profit itself, so if nothing changes year to year you'd expect it to increase at least slightly from inflation factors). At some point the league will get to a crossroads of both international expansion (or finding some other way to sell their product: the players) and legal liability for injuries. What they do at that point will determine the future success of the league. The product in my opinion isn't as strong as it was a few years ago, but popularity is still at a high. So I would think unless there are drastic and monumental changes to the rules I doubt there will be a mass exodus of fans until that happens...I mean warts and all, we're all still here!

**Yogidriver** · 01-12-2017, 02:17 PM

I think the league will be fine as long as kids are still playing high school football. If concussion fears and/or other sports participation keep kids from playing high school ball, and the sport erodes at that level, then the NFL could eventually have a big problem.

**WrongBaldy** · 01-12-2017, 02:46 PM

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...-vitality-2017

**Raven Werewolf** · 01-12-2017, 03:11 PM

I saw on twitter a clip of Schefter and another insider saying how Spano desperately wanted to stay in SD but he was going back and forth with the city for like 15 years on a new stadium deal and nothing ever came of it. If that's the case I can hardly blame him. I feel awful for SD but in this case the man did what he felt he had to do. If it doesn't make dollars it doesn't make sense.

We can probably forget the Las Vegas Raiders though. I cant see any way the NFL will stand for three relocations in 2 years. How bad would that look if you're Goddell?

**HotInHere** · 01-12-2017, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by Raven Werewolf

...
We can probably forget the Las Vegas Raiders though. I cant see any way the NFL will stand for three relocations in 2 years. How bad would that look if you're Goddell?

Why? If you look at it another way, it's a triumph. Goodell finally got the NFL back to L.A. It's all in how you spin it.

Besides, follow the dollars. If moving to Vegas is good financially they will do it. You're going to replace those tarped-out seats at that shit-hole excuse for a stadium in Oakland with a shiny new publicly-financed playground in the entertainment capital of the world.

Even if Goodell and the other owners didn't want the move to happen, if it's good for Mark Davis, he'll do it. Daddy sued the league before; don't think for a second his son won't do it. But it's not going to happen, because all the owners are going to see is dollar signs.

**GOTA** · 01-12-2017, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Raven Werewolf

I saw on twitter a clip of Schefter and another insider saying how Spano desperately wanted to stay in SD but he was going back and forth with the city for like 15 years on a new stadium deal and nothing ever came of it. If that's the case I can hardly blame him. I feel awful for SD but in this case the man did what he felt he had to do. If it doesn't make dollars it doesn't make sense.

We can probably forget the Las Vegas Raiders though. I cant see any way the NFL will stand for three relocations in 2 years. How bad would that look if you're Goddell?

I don't see how it makes the Commissioner or the NFL look bad at all. They don't own the teams. It makes Spanos look like the crappy owner he is. He has to pay a half a billion dollar relocation fee. How about putting that towards a new stadium in San Diego. The NFL said they would contribute $300 million. That's $800 million towards a new stadium. Why isn't that good enough for Spanos?

**Flacco's_Haircut** · 01-12-2017, 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

I don't see how it makes the Commissioner or the NFL look bad at all. They don't own the teams. It makes Spanos look like the crappy owner he is. He has to pay a half a billion dollar relocation fee. How about putting that towards a new stadium in San Diego. The NFL said they would contribute $300 million. That's $800 million towards a new stadium. Why isn't that good enough for Spanos?

I agree, this is getting ridiculous. Are these owners so greedy they can't pay for these stadiums themselves? They can spout off all the talk about how employing citizens is beneficial and all the tourist dollars brought in, but this is just lining the pockets of someone who's fiduciary duty to humanity really should be using their immense wealth to help others, not to continue to line their pockets by using every interpretation of the law and precedent available to their advantage.

When building a stadium:
1. They don't all have to be jerry's world; a place with seats, washrooms, concessions, and accessibility for everyone is enough, skip the Picasso's on the walls. This one upping of stadiums is ridiculous and I'm sure more people are going to places like Lambeau for the history than a place like Minnesota for the amenities.
2. If you still don't have the money, find a partner. Can't be the worst thing in the world to split the revenues / costs of a facility or team 50/50, unless this is again a control / greed / status thing.

Basically my point is, it's great if you're owning a team and doing good things for a city and fans. But it's a 2 way straight, you don't "have the right" to keep owning a team because at one point you could afford it. If I have a good paying job and buy a Mercedes but then get laid off, you better believe that Mercedes is gone to help pay the bills. If you can't afford the costs of doing business in the NFL, sell the damn team or get a partner.

My rant is now complete :happyanim

**HoustonRaven** · 01-12-2017, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Flacco's_Haircut

I agree, this is getting ridiculous. Are these owners so greedy they can't pay for these stadiums themselves? They can spout off all the talk about how employing citizens is beneficial and all the tourist dollars brought in, but this is just lining the pockets of someone who's fiduciary duty to humanity really should be using their immense wealth to help others, not to continue to line their pockets by using every interpretation of the law and precedent available to their advantage.

When building a stadium:
1. They don't all have to be jerry's world; a place with seats, washrooms, concessions, and accessibility for everyone is enough, skip the Picasso's on the walls. This one upping of stadiums is ridiculous and I'm sure more people are going to places like Lambeau for the history than a place like Minnesota for the amenities.
2. If you still don't have the money, find a partner. Can't be the worst thing in the world to split the revenues / costs of a facility or team 50/50, unless this is again a control / greed / status thing.

Basically my point is, it's great if you're owning a team and doing good things for a city and fans. But it's a 2 way straight, you don't "have the right" to keep owning a team because at one point you could afford it. If I have a good paying job and buy a Mercedes but then get laid off, you better believe that Mercedes is gone to help pay the bills. If you can't afford the costs of doing business in the NFL, sell the damn team or get a partner.

My rant is now complete :happyanim

Take a look at how much money the Maryland Stadium Authority pulls in from both parks.

It's not just the team owners taking in the cash.

If done right, and Maryland has two perfect examples, publicly funded facilities can be a win-win.

Here in Houston, we have an example of how to do and how not to do it. NRG Stadium is well ahead of schedule for its bond payoff and the county will be seeing money from it in the next year or two. By contrast, the county is still paying the initial bond payment for the original construction of the Astrodome. AND on top of it all, millions each year are still allocated for its "upkeep" (read so it doesn't fall down).

There's only one truly privately funded stadium in the NFL and it's MetLife Stadium.