Jabronis of the Week: NFL Owners

In an unprecedented move, there are 32 Jabronis of the Week. Although the NFL owners and players have agreed to a 7-day extension to resolve their labor issues, the onus of the blame for even reaching this point has to go to the owners. They're facing a similar problem as a lot of other sports and businesses at this time. They over-expanded and over-fancified their product and now it's biting them in the ass as the economy struggles.

The only difference is that football is at the height of its popularity, and arguably is the most popular product in the country. It's not like the NBA having to deal with owners losing $30 million a season. The value of franchises keep going up and up. If more owners planned smartly and made better decisions when it comes to stadiums and PSL's, they wouldn't be in this mess. It's all greed.

We didn't force the Giants and Jets to build a billion-dollar stadium. We didn't need club lounges with fireplaces. Loyal customers were pissed about the PSL's. There's going to be people willing to shell out big bucks, but as soon as times are tough, they're gone. Luckily both teams are doing well but the economy really hurt the new stadium. Teams are much more a public service than a private business. It's not the job of the people to subsidize them.

It's like the neighborhood bar that gets really popular. Pretty soon you can't get in unless you're wearing dress shoes and Bud Lights cost $8. Pretty soon the loyal customers are turned off and would rather stay home. It's ridiculous that coming off a great season, the owners and players would be willing to go through such negative publicity. There's a lot at stake: the extended schedule, player safety, retirement benefits. But at the heart of it is all greed. There are some teams that are doing worse than others. If you can't afford to own a team, then cash out. A ton of billionaires out there would love to own a football team.

Owners, hopefully this ends soon. I'm not against the 18-game schedule like a lot of other people are. If you added an extra bye week or two and an extra playoff team in each conference, shouldn't the additional revenue cover everything? Maybe that's a simplified solution. Limit rookie salaries in exchange for a few extra roster spots. That's what I call compromising. I learned it at business school. There's so much money at stake. Figure it out. Until then, you're jabronis, brothers.