Franchises in the NFL have had it fairly easy on the business end because the television contract is so lucrative for everyone. It would seem almost idiot-proof, yet teams underperform on this level year in and year out. The single biggest factor that contributes to success or failure on this front is the engagement of the owner. Robert Boland
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
With free agency essentially over and the draft still to come, it’s a great time to take a serious look at NFL franchises and attempt to quantify who the best and worst organizations and owners are. In conversation with a variety of insiders, one trend became very clear: It’s much easier to identify owners and organizations that are struggling overall than those that have a system in place and are rolling along. This helps prove Bill Walsh’s wisdom, which Michael Lombardi so often quotes, about “not competing with every team and only competing with about eight teams.” So today, next Tuesday and Thursday and concluding April 21, we will endeavor to shed some light upon which franchises get it and which ones don’t.
This won’t be like the Forbes list, which is based on earnings or value, because that makes Daniel Snyder, who prints money in Washington, look much better than he is. Similarly, this list isn’t only about success on the field; there are teams that win because they’ve been fortunate enough to have found a star quarterback, or because they have an excellent coach or player personnel director who lifts those around them. What this -- the first- hopefully- annual National Football Post ranking of NFL Organizations and Owners -- is about is organizational symmetry.
Is it Symmetrical?
What is organizational symmetry? It is the recognition that running a professional sports team has three distinct dimensions that are not always interrelated and are sometimes actually in conflict. The three dimensions involved in running a professional sports team are maximizing revenue (business), managing the sports product (team) and maintaining a compact with the customers (fans).
Franchises in the NFL have had it fairly easy on the business end because the television contract is so lucrative for everyone. It would seem almost idiot-proof, yet teams underperform on this level year in and year out. The single biggest factor that contributes to success or failure on this front is the engagement of the owner. Because the most profitable teams have the most favorable stadium relationships, much of the money a team can generate over and above the television share is related to the stadium. And it requires a bold, or clever, owner to take on the risk of building a stadium or convince the public to help pay for one.
Fielding a winning team is a stickier issue, and even more organizations struggle on this account. Here the engagement of an owner is necessary to sustain success. There are a variety of reasons for this, but one is certainly that fans and the media are fickle, and owners often tinker with their football operations rather than being consistent and determined. The owners who work closely with their coaches, player personnel staffs and senior leadership, not overwhelming them but being informed by them, clearly enjoy the greatest advantage.
Finally, the while the business of sports has a venue aspect, a product aspect and a customer aspect, the relationship between a fan and a team is much more complex and emotional than that between a customer and a company in normal business. The fan’s very identity is intertwined with their relationship with their team. So much so that my South Carolina-bred wife, who grew up without any pro sports loyalty, adopted my teams after meeting me and has proudly stated (without prompting) that “we are a Mets-Jets family.” So while fans are especially loyal consumers, they are not simply satisfied by normal service; they demand that the owner understand and honor their bond to the team.
Enlightenment
I wrote an article called “The Enlightened Owner” several years ago. It laid out some commandments that owners should uphold if they want their franchises to thrive. Last week, I was interviewed on Canada’s Business News Network by a reporter who wanted to know who was an enlightened owner. Much like enlightenment itself, being an enlightened owner is a state to be sought but is rarely attained. But many owners do one thing well and other things poorly. In other words, they and their organizations are asymmetrical, and to be an elite franchise, it’s necessary to do all things well.
Starting in the Middle
Today, let’s start to reveal the owners who don’t completely stink and get some stuff right but clearly don’t have it all together to be great. They are the B and C students of the NFL.
Close but Not Quite There
Indianapolis Colts: Jim Irsay (No. 9)
The Colts have enjoyed a superb run on the field in the Bill Polian-Tony Dungy-Peyton Manning eras. They have the NFL’s second-best record, the most playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title. They open a new stadium in 2009 that should be state of the art, and they didn’t have to pay for it. So shouldn’t Irsay be ranked higher? Perhaps he should, but he still bears the stigma of his late father’s erratic behavior and midnight run from Baltimore. If Indy can sustain its level of excellence as Manning ages and without the rock-solid presence of Dungy, Irsay may rightfully claim a place in the first tier.
Tampa Bay: Malcolm Glazer and sons Bryan, Edward and Joel Glazer (10)
Appropriately, the other franchise bearing the stamp of Tony Dungy sits poised at the high end of the middle tier. It makes money in Tampa. It also has a favorable stadium relationship and was well located in what had been, until the housing bubble burst, a fast-growing area of a football-mad region. But the firing of Dungy after playoff frustration and surprise firing of GM Bruce Allen and head coach John Gruden this year indicate that the Glazers don’t have as complete a handle on the football operations to be in the top tier. Their ownership of Manchester United pulls them in a different direction and away from the day-to-day operations of the Bucs. Gruden is owed more than $20 million over the next few years.
The Incomplete Grades
Kansas City Chiefs: Clark Hunt (11)
His late father Lamar Hunt would have rated comfortably in the first tier. Yet Clark Hunt showed great promise in winning the battle for GM Scott Pioli this offseason and taking decisive action in remaking his franchise. He will also have an updated stadium, so while the jury is still out, Hunt shows promise.
Minnesota Vikings: Zygmunt “Zygi” Wilf (12)
Without a stadium and out from scandal, Wilf and his organization have stabilized the Vikings longboat. If he can get a stadium deal to replace the Metrodome and get past the first round of the playoffs, Wilf could be an important player in the league’s ownership ranks for years to come.
Miami Dolphins: Steve Ross (incomplete)
Wayne Huizinga could never quite figure out how to get past the past and had one of the most bloated front offices in the league. And he was always selling the team. Now he has, and Ross has retained Bill Parcells. All are pluses as the Dolphins became a surprise playoff team last season. Parcells effectively exorcised the ghosts of the Shula era that have hung over the team, and how long he stays around may determine how fast a start Ross gets.
Participation Awards: They Have Been Present
Seattle Seahawks: Paul Allen (13)
Paul Allen is so rich he can afford to be detached. His stadium is new and he has great fans. The problem is that his franchise had stability in the form of Mike Holmgren and now enters the post-Holmgren era. Despite a better than average record and usually being picked for the Super Bowl, nothing cries out for Allen or Seattle to be rated higher as the team rebuilds.
Tennessee Titans: Bud Adams (14)
Adams has largely stepped away from the franchise, leaving it in the capable hands of executive VP and general counsel Steve Underwood, GM Mike Reinfeldt and head coach Jeff Fisher. It’s best that Adams is far away as he has shown a tendency to be meddlesome and erratic. Yet Adams, whose money comes from the oil business, has gotten richer while most owners have gotten poorer, and his team is successful despite his market size.
Houston Texans: Bob McNair (15)
McNair came in with a bang and opened the best stadium in the league to date. However, he has not shown either patience or direction with his football operation. Houston is a huge market, and developing a fan base as passionate as the Oilers were would seem easy. But it hasn’t happened yet. Misplaced trust and too much patience followed by too little patience have never allowed the Texans to get out of the gate. More changes loom.
New York Jets: Woody Johnson (16)
On the field, the team hasn’t been bad. In fact, for long-suffering Jet fans, the last decade has been surprisingly good. Yet the Jets don’t seem to be getting any closer to the Patriots and Dolphins. Johnson has also had an erratic and tenuous relationship with his fans. His failed land grab on the West Side of Manhattan proved costly and his reliance on former team president and realtor-in-chief Jay Cross made his organization the definition of asymmetrical. The Jets have been all stadium all the time, with little engagement from the owner on the football side of things.
I will never forget the day my wife and I saw Cross and his family on a sunny September afternoon walking out of the Ralph Lauren store on Madison Avenue. What makes that significant? It was a Sunday and the Jets were playing the Patriots about 12 miles away at the very moment the team president was strolling on Madison Avenue. I had tickets, he had a job. We were at the Polo store. At least I had an excuse: I don’t work for the Jets.
San Diego: Alex Spanos, Dean Spanos (17)
The team is good. The stadium is old and they might not have a home in a year or two. The Spanoses have failed to press the advantage of having one of the more talented teams and better personnel staffs in the league. They have a reputation for being cheap and it seems to follow them. If the window closes on this team, one wonders what it will mean for the franchise and its future. Could it be in L.A.? But does the NFL want an owner who is only average to take that prize?
Next: Teams in Turmoil
This is an outstanding read and what all fans must realize is that the owner is very important, and not just for the money he spends, but the philosophy he bestows....
Great work Bob, this needs to be in a book.
I love this article and I'm looking forward to read the next one. I've worked 7 years in one of the most important soccer organization in Europe. We've gone through one of the biggest scandal in sports history mainly because we lost control of our organizational simmetry and at the same time the rebuilding project has been quite erratic exactly because the new management has been too slow to find out the right simmetry. Thanks again for your article: at least I know that I was going in the right direction in the past three years.
Jim Irsay should definetely be in the top 5 of team owners. His record after taking over from his father, getting Lucas Oil Stadium built (which opened in 2008 by the way), and the classy conduct of this organization from top to bottom is a reflection of the owner.
Didnt the Colts stadium open last year?
Clark Hunt has not impressed many of the fans in KC, after all he hired Herm Edwards, stood Idelle by as Carl Peterson made blunder after blunder, most notably Trading J.Allen because "he was a player at risk" but signed LJ to a MONSTER contract.
If Glazer gets points deducted for "Their ownership of Manchester United pulls them in a different direction and away from the day-to-day operations of the Bucs" You have to deduct twice that many points off of Hunt's score, as he is the proud owner of two MLS franchises. One of those teams won the Championship last season.
So with all do respect Mr. Boland, I'd guess that your generous ranking of the Chiefs as a franchise would have many many critics.
Great insight. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series.
JohnNDallas, I completely agree as an avid Chiefs fan. Yes, Pioloi and Haley were needed, but don't know if they are good signings yet. The only reason Hunt made the change was he was getting major backlash from local Chiefs fans. the Hermanator was the worst hire in NFL league history. He is all talk and no substance. I can't tell you how bad of a game day coach he was and it made me cance my DirecTv b/c of Herm and Hunt. Now I will buy it again with Pioli and Haley. Hunt can go f*%& himself if he pulls another - skipping Chiefs game to go to the horrendous MLS championship. Get a clue, that league sucks and you need to get your priorities straight or have one of your other relatives take over. He seems to be on track, but he is rated way to high as nothing has been done yet.
Great piece Bob! I went out and googled the article (was hoping for a link :)) at any rate, I hope you don't mind me giving out the link to what I did find for other people interested in the “The Enlightened Owner”:
http://www.washingtonsquaresports.com/2007/04/what-are-hallmarks-of-enlightened.html
I always look for ways to incorporate pieces like this into my business.
Thanks again!
Interresting in deed. (Sorry for my english, but I'm a french canadian)
But I don't aggree that Irsay is rated Close but Not Quite There, especially as I think that you will put the Pats in the top 5 or even in the first place.
Let's face it. OK, Indy got Manning and had Dungy. But who convince Dungy to came in Indy talking about a philosophy of a long-term oriented team? Who was aroung when they pick Manning instead of Leaf? The way they get rid of that DT (Johnson, I think) last year just for a small marijuana possession is an exemple of the way they manage the team in a long-term way. I mean, that DT wasn't even close to be T.O. Pacman or Plaxico... They were knowing that the run defense will get in trouble but they did it. Be a model in the community is the main philosophy implanted by the owner. Irsay and Dungy built the team by the draft without using big splash trade or pick early for the last couple of years. They approch the draft with maturity. No troublemaker with extraordinary skills. No big scoop, no big mistake!
Indy is a small market and they built a stadium. Irsay built a fan base even if the Colts started with two strikes againts them (remember the Baltimore moove!). Compare the fan forum with other teams forum. Approching the draft lot of fan says : I'd rather take this guy or this one, but I finaly will trust Irsay's choice. Man, this is moore than fan appreciation, this is respect! (Look at the Raiders or Vickings fan forums and try to find that same respect!)
I'll comprare Colts with the popular choice: NE Patriots. What do the Pats (or another team) have moore to be in your top-10? Two moore rings, a big mouth WR who learned to shut his mouth in the right time, a top-3 QB (or will Brady counts as in the equation like Manning did?)a genius coach who's conviced of cheating almost once? I mean, getting good players for the Pats is easy as for the N-Y Yankees or the Real Madrid. They prefer to sign for less money in NE than elsewhere. You will say it's because they win... I think this is because of the Highgrade saussages syndrom (well knowed in Quebec for the publicity that said: Our hot dog saussages are good because moore people ate them and moore people ate them because they're good!)
Honnestly, I trully think that Colts is in the top-10 and even in the top-5 teams regarding business, team and fan. Is it the best team in the NFL? No. But people easely forget that builing a long terme winning team in a small market like Indy is not easy or natural and is definetly not the result of an incredible luck!
Thanks and again, and I apologize for my bad english.
In a race to the bottom, the Ford Family will land in last place just behind Al Davis.
It sucks to be a Lions fan.
Looks like even NFL team Presidents get pussy-whipped.
"The stadium celebrated its grand opening on August 14, 2008 and its ribbon-cutting ceremony August 16, 2008" Wiki, mind you wiki isn't the best place to check but confirmation can be viewed through NFL.com
great read, maybe but that type of mistake takes away a whole chunk of trying to get to anywhere near factual credibility
As a Pats fan I don't like the Colts fro many reasons, but I also don't think it's fair to saddle the son with the misdeeds of the father.
Nice insights though. Look forward to the rest of the series.
As a Pats fan I don't like the Colts for many reasons, but I also don't think it's fair to saddle the son with the misdeeds of the father.
Nice insights though. Look forward to the rest of the series.
im a tampa fan and we should be at the bottom. The glazer spend their focus ( and $) on manchester united, NOT the bucs. They are taking big moves to save cash, like keeping the roster smaller, moving training camp to the team facility, getttin rid of extra coches and staff, and staying well below the salary cap ( they dont pass out much in siging bonuses!) Its too bad too, because all the tools are there for a top level organization.
quick note to 'Murder':
TN is still flyover country; hasn't changed.
Pack, Pats, Steelers gotta be 1-2-3. I own the GB Packers.
Let me get this straight. Irsay is a good owner because he got Lucas Oil Stadium built, yet they still had to lay off support staff.
Your criteria include getting a stadium in place, but 2 you mention haven't a deal and neither one can get their city to build one. (SD and Min)
The passionate love for the Oilers was so significant that, when a "Keep the Oilers in Houston" rally was held and less than 5 people showed up.
Hey Mike - When Tampa starts paying off like Manchester United, maybe they will apply more money to them. Manchester United (along with Real Madrid) is in the top 2 of most powerful sports teams/organizations in the world. Manchester United has won its league the last two seasons (working on a third) and was the European club champion last year.
The Glazers were roundly derided when they took over at Manchester United but have done nothing but improve the fortunes of the best supported team in the world.
It will be interesesting to see where Randy Learner falls in this analysis as he is spending as much time with Aston Villa as he is the Cleveland Browns.
Apologies on missing the inaugural year of Lucas Oil Stadium. I only come to Indianapolis for the Combine and this was the first year it was used for that sweatfest. It seems Jim Irsay has his fans. While it may not be fair to lay the sins of the father upon the son. For as long as he was alive Bob Irsay would have held a lock on last place and for Jim Irsay to climb from the bottom to the next rung from the top is quite an accomplishment.
You'll note that the owners in 11 and 12 along with Steve Ross have yet to do much. It is emblematic of how bad the majority league's owners are that guys with clean slates outshine the rest. But that is my overall thesis. Some are good, some are bad or at best mediocre and some are truly ugly.
I do need to address the Clark Hunt MLS issue as compared to the Glazer's Man U ownership. MLS teams have a value of 5-25 million dollars. Man U has a value perhaps in excess of 2 billion dollars. The whole of the MLS isn't equal to the value of the Chiefs. Man U's value dwarfs that of the Bucs, hence my assertion that the Glazers are pulled in the direction of Man U.
But thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.
Robert,
Re: Bob McNair
This I get: [Misplaced trust and too much patience...]
This I don't: [...followed by too little patience...]
Please elaborate on the latter, please.
Also, I've lived in Houston most of my life and have been going to NFL games in here since the mid-70's - and a season ticket holder for 30 years and I'm not sure what 'passion' you are citing from the old Oilers fan base that isn't here now. Aside from three years of blue pom poms and a catchy slogan (LYB), most of what you are calling passion is what I call temporary excitement generated by the playoff teams of the late 70's, and late 80's - early 90's. I saw little 'passion' in the community during the dark years of 1981-86 and again in '94-'96. Some of it had to do with terrible teams, some of it had to do with people tired of getting jacked around by #14 on your list, and some of it had to do with collossal playoff collapses.
Did you watch the Texans MNF game against Jax last year? That was a 5-7 team and the crowd was insane. I can't wait for the winning to resume around here because the Texans fan base is a powderkeg waiting to explode. All we need is a trip to the playoffs and poof...passionate fans.
Great article btw
If the Broncos are in the top tier after this offseason your ratings are a joke. Firing a Hall of Fame Head Coach and trading your franchise QB in the span of three months is something not even Al Davis would pull.
And I am not sure why the editor is putting a backslash before every apostrophe ... that wasnt me.
QUITE SURE THE "PACKERS" WILL BE IN THE TOP THREE, PROBABLY NUMBER 1 !!!!!!!!
I agree with aj's comments. I can't think of any decisions that the Bob McNair has made as Texans owner that demonstrate a "lack of patience." I have no idea what you are talking about with that.
I would like to add that it is extremely ill-advised to question the passion of the Houston Texans fanbase. See e.g.: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/08/05/peter-king-wants-you-to-hate-him-to-prove-your-fandom/
As a close observer of the Texans, I can't figure out your write up at all.
Every year people want to hate on the colts and every year they put up another 12 w's! Us colts fans love it. Irsay put manning and polian in place and they are still doing their thing, we will see how it works without dungy but i have no doubt we will be in the playoffs as usual.
Packers fans, come on??? Could you be bigger homers? Packers number 1 my arse. I actually like the packers but come on, however good Rodgers is, and he helped me win my fantasy league last year, the organization will never live down the way the favre fiasco was handled.
I love you website, but where is the next installment (Teams in Turmoil) that was supposed to be posted yesterday?
Just now seeing this...
Mr. Murder - totally agree.
Scot B - "flyover country"? Are you kidding me? Maybe in the business world and Hollywood circles, but we are not "flyover country" when it comes to football.
In fact, we don't care much about folks or happenings on EITHER coast, so to us in Tennessee - the Giants, Jets, Pats, Skins, Dolphins, Jags, Panthers, Seahawks, Niners, Chargers, Saints, Bucs, Raiders and Ravens are just the crackly, crusty, fault line of the country that encircles the heart of America.
GO TITANS.
Hi Robert, Great Article & Very Well Written. Very Informative. Thanks
Andrew N. needs to review his facts. Clark didn't hire Herm. Lamar did. It is difficult to really pay anymore attention to what he has written when this basic bit of information is wrong.
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Fan love in Nashville is deep. The demand for big football has always been there. Titans fans cover a wide array in what was once considered flyover country.
Reinfeldt has done a stellar job. Coach Fisher is a superb football mind and a great people person.