“I think the NFL is 10 years away from an implosion. When pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they’re getting hoggy. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I’m just telling you, when you got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns against you.” (Read Cuban’s extended Facebook post here)
The NFL has always managed to keep its product front and center, and its P and Ls safely tucked away. Just like in society nobody gives a crap about annoying complicated health issues – like disability payments to former players or concussion protocols. But something interesting has happened since Ray Rice punched his wife unconscious. Just like in society the dark clouds of emotional social issues have spoiled the NFL picnic.
The Ray Rice Appeal and the NFL Prevent Defense
In 2014 when an NFL team calls Native Americans “redskins” and proudly defends its right to do so – reasonable people will be offended. In 2014 when the NFL watches one of its players punch his wife unconscious and suspends him for two games – reasonable people will be offended. In 2014 when the country sees pictures of a four year old child bloodied by a vicious beating from an NFL player – reasonable people will be offended.
All of a sudden Congress, in their cynical reactionary way, pays attention. All of a sudden consumers start to pay attention to other lingering mysteries. Why does the NFL have an antitrust exemption? How in the hell is the NFL considered non-profit? And, in the current public debt crisis, why are taxpayers footing the bill for billions of dollars in new stadiums? (Read The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America by Gregg Easterbrook)
Until the Ray Rice controversy exploded on the NFL vista like an atomic bomb test in the Nevada desert, league owners were happily paying Roger Goodell his $44 million dollar salary. Since then NFL owners and their Wizard of Oz have been playing prevent defense – and we all know how an NFL prevent defense looks at the end of a game. Big money gets lost in precarious point spreads; and sometimes victory is snatched by the jaws of defeat.
The NFL’s version of prevent defense comes in the form of lawyers and lobbyists. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) explained the NFL’s defensive scheme:
“Why play in Washington? The NFL is facing several challenges off the gridiron. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing last month on delays in testing NFL players for human growth hormone, and this week sent a letter to the NFLPA questioning the union’s stance on testing. Over the past few years, Congress has also examined the league’s handling of disability benefits, treatment of retired NFL players, and, most prominently, the NFL’s response to concussions, an issue that continues to draw widespread public attention. After a high-profile 2009 hearing on head injuries, members of Congress threatened to intervene if the league didn’t deal with the problem. There was a second hearing in 2010, and with thousands of former players filing millions of dollars’ worth of concussion-related lawsuits, the issue still looms large for the league. In addition, at least two members of Congress at different points have raised the possibility of revoking the NFL’s valuable antitrust exemption, which allows it to negotiate broadcast deals.”
Maybe Mark Cuban has a point. The NFL has gotten real hoggy. They are starting to pay. They have doled $765 million in the concussion settlement litigation; and once they start pouring money down the legal drain it is hard to see where it will stop.
Nobody likes to be called a racial slur; and the issue of domestic violence hit home with Americans as they watched the Ray Rice video and saw the horrific pictures of Adrian Peterson’s child abuse. Social issues like domestic abuse and racism touch the nerve of so many Americans that even a vacuous Congress has taken notice.
Once you get a pretty good fire people start to smell the smoke. What the hell is an antitrust exemption? Why the hell are taxpayers footing the bill for hoggy NFL owners to rake in disgusting profits? Why are we paying to watch so many people – who, if normal rules applied – would be in jail? Congress has piped its reedy voice, and the NFL is listening.
“The reason American politicians can have such an impact on the issue comes from two 1960s laws passed by Congress exempting the NFL from certain antitrust regulations and allowing the league to act as a monopoly when it comes to negotiating broadcasting rights. When the second law was being passed, lobbyists added “professional football leagues” to a list of not-for-profit groups in the Internal Revenue Code. The league (though not individual teams) has saved millions in tax obligation, Easterbrook told CBS News.
Members of Congress from both parties now view this special treatment as a way to change the culture of the NFL, whether that’s through changing the Redskins’ name or forcing the implementation of harsher penalties for players who commit violent crimes.”
It is amazing to watch the atomic blast from a distance. The Ray Rice mushroom cloud has dissipated. It was not that long ago; but Goodell was in real trouble a couple months ago. Since then the NFL hired a new lobbyist to deal with the fallout. For now time and money are on the NFL’s side – but for how long? How long will fans tolerate the bratty stomping of Daniel Snyder as he insists on plastering a racial slur all over the NFL brand? What if Goodell mumbles and stumbles his way through testimony at the Rice appeal? How will people react if Adrian Peterson resumes his Hall of Fame career in the next couple weeks? Mark Cuban is not a dummy.
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