NFL

A win is always a win…except when it might not be a win.

Last week Special Master Stephen Burbank ruled that league owners wouldn’t be allowed to dismantle the supplemental revenue sharing pool (SRS) in 2010.  The pool will be valued at roughly $220 million dollars in 2010.  The NFLPA viewed the ruling as a victory,

via Nielsen,

(via NFL)

(h/t to Mike Mahoney and his awesome Twitter feed)

The Charlotte BizJournal is reporting that the NFL’s Carolina Panthers have decided to look outside their own walls to handle concessions and merchandise.

So…what is going on with professional football in Florida?

From Reuters,

CHICAGO, Sept 29 (Reuters) – Delaware’s appeal of a ruling that its plan to allow betting on professional sports violates a federal ban will not be heard, a federal court ruled on Tuesday.

There are many cynics that may say President Obama can spend his time, and the countries’ dollars…doing better things than glad handing the MLS champion Columbus Crew at the White House before heading off to throw the first pitch and hang out in the FOX booth at the All-Star game. However, the man who the Washington Times called this week the “Sports Fan Chief” , was astute enough with his team to recognize early on in his run to the White House that sports is a common bond for those on the fence about anything political, and gave him, more than any other candidate, another link to a demo that may or may not have voted or listened to him at all.

As we inch closer to NFL Training Camp, two interesting notes popped up again in the football world over the weekend, both showing what it will take for the casual fan to take notice of football outside of college or the NFL. The first was up north in the CFL, which incidentally has done a good job of rebranding itself and working with, not against the NFL in many ways. This past week, Toronto receiver Arland Bruce took the Ocho Cinco route by doing a “touchdown tribute” to Michael Jackson, complete with acting dead after a score.

As we inch closer to NFL Training Camp, two interesting notes popped up again in the football world over the weekend, both showing what it will take for the casual fan to take notice of football outside of college or the NFL. The first was up north in the CFL, which incidentally has done a good job of rebranding itself and working with, not against the NFL in many ways. This past week, Toronto receiver Arland Bruce took the Ocho Cinco route by doing a “touchdown tribute” to Michael Jackson, complete with acting dead after a score.

With the AFL gone and the AAFL never started, the quest for NFL alternatives to fill the void continues on. While most agree that the talent level for the secondary football gap between college and the NFL is there…and the CFL has done a good job of trying to assume that role…the model that is financially and socially viable remains a mystery that even the NFL with NFL Europe could not solve. . So now we move to the fall and the launch of the once-delayed, several times evolving four team United Football League, while the once tried, well pitched and curiously positioned Lingerie Football League has also garnered its own position.

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)

While the pressure to find new ways to get bigger ROI and link athletes closer to fans spending their discretionary dollar grows, the legitimacy or original reasons for using social networking as a valuable tool becomes more clouded in many ways. Shaquille O’Neal’s Twitter success, with the help of Charlotte-based Sports Media Challenge, broke the ice and showed athletes and brands how that medium could work as a successful connection tool.

“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.