National Football League

This certainly is not your dad’s NFL.  Everyone knows that the NFL is against gambling (*cough*even though they’re associated with CBS Sports Line, which has football odds on their site *cough*), they’ve even filed a brief in Delaware, attempting to block the legalization of sports gambling in the state.  The NFL’s argument?

Basically, the NFL takes the position that “’skill’ plays an impermissible role” in sports wagering, and the league explains that it’s a far cry from a lottery determined by chance.

In case you didn’t know, the Miami Dolphins really, REALLY want you to come to their stadium.  They’ve already brought in the

Its like this picture, but more clandestine and larger zoom (via Getty Images)

“When hell freezes over.”

“When pigs fly.”

“Only if you were the last man on earth.”

“When the NFL and Comcast reach a TV deal”

Apparently the NFL and Comcast are capitalists and in the business of making money (Who knew?!?).  After a prolonged 3-year battle between the two sides, it appears as if the unthinkable has happened; they’ve agreed on a deal to move the NFL network onto Comcasts digital basic tier.

Specifically, NFL players figurines are going back to college, thanks in large part to McFarlane Toys, who will be releasing a figurine set of popular NFL players, in their college uniforms.

…McFarlane Toys has licenses with the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL and has been ”producing action figures of professional athletes for more than a decade, but never before has the company tapped the college market.” The first six players that will have a college-themed action figure are Patriots QB Tom Brady (Michigan), Ravens LB Ray Lewis (Miami), Colts QB Peyton Manning (Tennessee), Vikings RB Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma), Raiders QB JaMarcus Russell (LSU) and Steelers WR Hines Ward (Georgia).

As I’m sure everyone knows by now, the NFL draft happened this past weekend.  The Detroit Lions chose Georgia QB Matthew Stafford with the first pick, signing him to a 6-year, $78 million dollar deal with $41.7 million in guaranteed money.  The deal represented the largest amount of guaranteed money for any player in NFL history.   Matthew Stafford, who hasn’t taken a snap in the NFL, has more guaranteed money in his contract than an established NFL star, ala Haynesworth, and established NFL superstars at his position, ala Peyton Manning & Tom Brady.

What’s wrong with this picture?

Is this picture from 2008? Wait, is that glitter? 2009.

Birds do it. Bees do it. Lions and Jaguars do it too.

New uniforms are popping up everywhere, aren’t they?

So, what kind of money can a defensive player of the year command?  A lot.

ESPN is reporting that the Steelers have resigned Steelers linebacker/2008 DPOY James Harrison to a contract extension.  Details below,

Steelers linebacker James Harrison cashed in on his incredible 2008 season by agreeing to a new contract Monday that is worth $51.175 million over the next six seasons, according to a source.

He was scheduled to make $1.4 million this season, the final year of his contract.

Included in the contract is about $20 million in bonuses, the source said.

Most of you have probably heard by now that the NFL is at least in preliminary discussions to extend their regular season from 16 to 18 games, eliminating two of those extremely exciting, pulse pounding preseason games.  What you may not have known is that there is one sport that is watching the NFL’s moves with baited breath.  That sport is NASCAR…and apparently, a move might not be the worst idea.

Okay…I will be the first person to say that this blog tends to take a sarcastic, and also pessimistic overtone on most of my blog posts.  Usually, its because the topic being covered usually involves someone that I feel is making a choice that is not necessarily a poor choice, but a choice that seemingly doesn’t look at all of the surrounding factors.  Such is the case with your 2009 Detroit Lions.

How have the Lions continued to at least convince this blogger that they are continuing to entrench themselves in futility? Its new logo time!

The Raiders have officially inked their shut down corner, Nnamdi Asomugha, to a new deal which makes him the highest paid player on a year to year basis.  Asomugha, who signed a 3 year deal, is going to receive $28.5 million in guaranteed money over the next two years, with a club option for $16.8 million in the third year or the amount of the QB franchise tag, whichever is larger.

Wow, that’s a lot of money.  Every media outlet that I’ve heard that has reported on Asomugha’s contract has stated, without hesitancy, that its a great move for the Raiders.  While I’m not ready to disagree with them, I would like to look at the numbers a bit more closely.

I came across this list in both the sporting news and The Sports Business Journal. At first glance it is a pretty good list, but several things about it really intrigued me.

First and foremost the Commissioners of the five big sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and NASCAR) varied widely in the rankings. Respectively these commissioners were ranked 4th, 3rd, 13th, 6th, and 9th. In my mind that seems out of order. When I think about sports business I always think of the NFL first, then MLB, NBA and the NHL seem to me to be on the same level, and then NASCAR.

Since I started writing here at SBD I have had a constant argument not only with myself but with many of you about the importance of Sports to the local economy. Since there are not any real hard numbers to look we have to guess and estimate how much money a full Sports Stadium generates for their local economy.

Well this week I came across some numbers in the Detroit News that may help us better define the argument.

I must warn you this is not an entirely sports business piece of writing. This is more  along the lines of social commentary and a unique look at why our economy may be in the mess that it is in.

Apparently there’s an election coming up.  Who knew?

Before I say anything else, please, regardless of who you vote for, get out and vote on Tuesday.  I’m not going to hunt you down like a celebrity, you aren’t going to get a cool t-shirt, you’re just going to get the satisfaction of knowing you had a part in what is arguably the most historical election in the history of U.S. politics.

That all being said, John McCain and Barack Obama will be on Monday Night Football pandering for your votes!  And who is the hard-hitting, well respected journalist doing those interviews?

It seems no matter what the current financial climate any NFL franchise remains a license to print money. When I first read about this I really could not believe it. It seems the New York Jets have made 16 million dollars selling PSL’s for their new stadium. While the New York Giants who will share that stadium have only been able to sell 12.7 million dollars worth of PSL’s on the new digs.

That means somewhere there are fans out there that have 25 extra million dollars before they can even buy some tickets. I really need to talk to some of thee people I have some bridges I am looking to sell.