The Forbes list of the most valuable sports teams came out this week and the Packers disclosed their finances as required as the only publicly owned team in the league. Those two things told us that owning an NFL team is still a very good gig if you can get it.
Teams have to pay a relocation fee to move, which three teams have done recently. The Chargers and Rams will each pay $645 million split among the other teams in the league. The Raiders will pay $378 million once they move to Las Vegas.
Who gets that money? The other teams. Clark Hunt and the Chiefs will receive roughly $55 million in relocation fees over the next 11 years. Not quite as big as the $7.8 billion teams split in national revenue but still quite large!
This is why I can’t have sympathy with an NFL owner who doesn’t pay high dollar for a coach or a GM or other positions that are not under a salary cap or an owner who asks for public money for a stadium.
We are six years into the 10-year CBA and there aren’t a bunch of owners upset about the current CBA which tells me they are making lots of money. That tells me the players will want a bigger slice of that and we’re headed for CBA drama by 2021.