Latest on the 2011 Lockout

[Fiz]

And those 31 guys invested their money to have the franchises.....players are employees and nothing more.

About half inherited them.

the rest were not the only people buying. There's nothing special about an owner.

[Rhys]

I've gone to around 2 games every year for the past 4 years and every time it's been around 60 or more. I buy from the Panthers, at what is considered base value. Hmm.

[Fiz]

actually now that i think about it hardly any of the nfl owners that are new owners made their own money. It's mostly inherited wealth. These people never had to work for anything, they just had it.

[Fiz]

also i've been to more panther games I'm willing to bet than anyone on this site so i will bitch the most.

[Rhys]

actually now that i think about it hardly any of the nfl owners that are new owners made their own money. It's mostly inherited wealth. These people never had to work for anything, they just had it.

But but but, they took the risk and invested their millions, had it not panned out they would be on the street begging for scraps. They took all the risk so they deserve the lion's share of the profit.

Everyone involved is risking things people. Just because the owners "risked" losing MONEY doesn't mean the countless thousands of people involved with the NFL didn't risk as much. What is risking more, risking millions of dollars when you're a millionaire, or risking your livelihood when you're a young kid trying to make it the world.

If you're a multi-millionaire risking money on a business adventure and it doesn't pan out, you may have reduced your wealth, but you're likely still living quite comfortably. If you're someone staking your professional livelihood on making it in professional sports, as a player, a scout, a couch, a waterboy, I don't f**king care, you'll probably be losing more if it doesn't pan out or if there's a lockout preventing you from work.

Even if the yearly PROFIT of an NFL franchise was 10 million, would that be considered oh so unsustainable for the owners? I mean, what we actually want to know is how much money are these guys actually pocketing annually?

I'm not the most eloquent writer out there, but all I can say is this whole situation is sickening to me. It seems the only contiguous theme to all of it is greed.

[Fiz]

as someone who is from a ridiculously wealthy family, the idea that these people (for the most part) are risking anything is laughable.

Oh well, the proles will keep voting against their own interests in the pitiful belief that one day their tire retreading business will go public.

[pstall]

The real reason for this. The subsidy ***** known as taxpayers and starred eyed city council members of most NFL cities have nothing to offer. The golden goose is going away and the NFL owners are fully aware of it. Add to that that many of them, not NFL players, lost a few generations of funds in the financial debacle.

The Glazer boys started the ball rolling with slashing payroll and diversifying their sports portfolio by buying Manchester United. That was red flag #1 of what was to come.

Jerry Jones getting the Taj Mafootball was akin to somebody about to short sell on their home and goes and gets a 50' plasma or new car before their credit tanks and they can't make those purchases anymore.

So the revenue stream that is created is hopefully to offset the lack of public funds that was a great booty call for sports owners. They could tap it whenever they wanted.

Not anymore.

[Fiz]

the glazers buying a team they couldn't afford doesn't signal anything nfl wide

pstall you're literally missing a chromosome

[pstall]

the glazers buying a team they couldn't afford doesn't signal anything nfl wide

pstall you're literally missing a chromosome

I think I left it on your chin.

[Swedish Butt-Whistle]

anyone who sides with the owners may bow down and proceed to fellatio at the sound of the tone (mouse click ; blow job)

[pstall]

I couldn't resist fiz.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sports/08stadium.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss&src=ig&pagewanted=all

New Jerseyans are hardly alone in paying for stadiums that no longer exist. Residents of Seattle’s King County owe more than $80 million for the Kingdome, which was razed in 2000. The story has been similar in Indianapolis and Philadelphia. In Houston, Kansas City, Mo., Memphis and Pittsburgh, residents are paying for stadiums and arenas that were abandoned by the teams they were built for.

But befitting its name, Giants Stadium is the granddaddy of phantom facilities. Taxpayers in New Jersey, already under pressure from declining local government revenues, this year will pay $35.8 million in principal and interest on the $266 million in remaining bonds for the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which opened in 1976 and includes the Izod Center and a horse racing track. Those bonds will not be paid until 2025.

[Catdaddy]

as someone who is from a ridiculously wealthy family, the idea that these people (for the most part) are risking anything is laughable.

Oh well, the proles will keep voting against their own interests in the pitiful belief that one day their tire retreading business will go public.

Do not believe that, but the owners should just say what the hell and redo the original deal like the union wants to do with no heartache.

[Chaos]

I read through the first five pages and find this to be an engaging and spirited debate, people siding with the players, the owners, and those who don't give a fug, they just want football next year.

My question is, has anyone played the race card yet? If not, I'd like to go ahead and play it.

[Rhys]

This isn't perfectly relevant but I heard on NPR this morning about a study by a professor at Harvard on wealth distribution. Wealth being, what you own and what it's worth, savings, car, house, debt, mortgage, etc, not your income. Basically your net worth.

He found that the bottom 40% of americans have 0% of the wealth in this country. That's right, 0%. As in the things that they own do not account for the debt that they have, or it reduces it to nothing over the whole of the bottom 40%.

The top 20% of americans own 85% of the wealth in this country. A large majority of which is inherited.

They didn't mention it but I assume that the middle 40% owns 15% of the wealth.

They also surveyed a large sample of people on what they thought was the current distribution and what they thought would be the ideal distribution.

Regardless of political affiliation, race, age etc everyone agreed that the distribution should be more even, somewhere closer to the top 20% owning 35% of the wealth. That's a 50% swing.

Now enter the owners and players, who are all in the top 20%. Both sides squabbling on how to breakup the remaining millions leftover after they have all made a killing on the NFL. All while Jerry continues to charge more for tickets, reduce the teams salary, leave our stars unsigned, charge insane prices for food and drink (standard stadium practice I know) and we're just supposed to bend over backwards and take it.

I agree with Fiz, murder the rich.