As the NFL and the players’ union continue to stare blankly at each other regarding their ongoing labor strife, the son of the former owner of the Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens has an idea for fixing the situation.
Hire him.
According to Reed Albergotti of the Wall Street Journal, Art Modell’s son, David, thinks the NFL should appoint him to lead a new committee that would split all NFL revenue equally among the teams and “penalize” those that aren’t sufficiently attempting to generate more money.
Per the report, Modell’s opinions will appear in an online essay in which he also will argue that Steelers chairman Dan Rooney needs to leave the land of leprechauns and potatoes and return to the U.S. to help fix this mess. “What in the heck is [Rooney] doing in Ireland when we need him?” Modell writes.
His idea has some appeal. Teams that earn the highest revenues by taking business risks resent those that sit back and spend little or no money in the quest to generate more of it. By carving up the total pie based on factors including, for example, efforts to sell stadium naming rights and size of marketing staff and value of sponsorship deals, some teams fairly would get less, and some teams fairly would get more.
So even though the 32 franchises are on the same page within the context of the uncapped year, achieving a viable long-term solution to the ever-growing problem of revenue disparity represents the key to long-term peace between the league and the players — and among the various owners.
That said, they don’t need Modell or anyone else not currently an NFL owner or high-level executive to serve as the “czar” of the process. The league needs to strike a deal with the players regarding their cut, and then the league needs to come up with a way to divvy up remaining revenues among the teams.
They did just that in 2006, but the supplemental revenue sharing has not been as popular or as successful as envisioned.
Whatever the outcome, Modell has identified the real problem. For the solution to be viable, however, it needs to come from within and among the people who currently run the league.
This idea is stupid. Team a shouldn’t have the same revenue as team b unless team A’s costs are the same. We know they are not.
Great idea. What we can’t ever have is what baseball has with the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, and Dodgers having the money hammer on all the other teams for free agents.
I thought he was going to say to move the Steelers or some other NFL franchise fixture out of its city.
David is dumber than a box of rocks. Someone gave him the idea cause there is no way he came up with it on his own.
Uh oh Mike Brown, time to open the wallet or sell the stadium naming rights. I love this idea, anything to put some of the smuck owners in the corner and make them jump or at least spend money to put a quality team on the field not just an 8-8 or worse for 17 out of the last 20 years.
Art Junior can head up the “Get a New Face” committee for Jerry
Florio…I see YOUR agenda….YOU want to serve as the “czar” of the NFL!
It’s very clear in all your posts…and It’s that parasite lawyer in you again!
Great idea!!!
Small market teams will NEVER be able to compete with larger market teams on a consistent basis.
And, I love the penalties for not trying to make money and hopefully that means putting a winner on the field.
As a football fan from Ohio, that would be great news! Neither team has won a Superbowl and surely they don’t give fans a consistent quality product for “their” money.
It’s ironic the idea came from David Modell. The “chip” is obviously smarter than the “blockhead” it came from!
If he is like his pops the NFL will be bankrupt by 2015.
Great attitude, Mike. That’s just what got them into this mess; arrogance, a refusal to look outside the box, and a refusal to listen to people not within the ownership group. Because my god how could anyone that’s not one of the 32 owners have common sense. In fact, let’s just let them run the country, and the world. Because they’re soooooo smart, they’ll never screw this up. Stop perpetuating their arrogance by writing slop like this and dismissing a great idea because Modell “isn’t in the ownership group”. Obviously, they do need someone outside the group, Mike, because so far sh*t has been accomplished relying on those from within.
It’s obvious that a major obstacle in the way of a new CBA is the owners’ getting their house in order. Art Modell’s greatest legacy is TV revenue sharing. I’m sure that David has learned alot from his father about the intricacies of NFL revenues. He would be a great choice to be the arbiter – knowledgeable, impartial (he has no lasting stake in the Ravens), and, most importantly, solidly on the owners’ side.
I like it.
I’m in the middle of a lawsuit that has accused me of rape. I’m now being accused of sexual assault at a club by someone else but I didn’t have sex with her so that’s ok right? I mean I was stupid enough not to wear a helmet when I crashed my bike… but clearly the accident caused brain damage and that’s why I wasn’t able to think ‘HEY MAYBE I SHOULDN’T HOOKUP WITH RANDOM GIRLS THAT I JUST MET AT A CLUB’.
At best, I’m dumb enough to hook up with a stranger at a club while I’m in the middle of a lawsuit about hooking up with a stranger and being accused of rape. At worst, I’m a rapist. And in either case, I didn’t care enough about my image or the risks involved.
I mean jesus christ, I know I’m an ugly bastard but I should be able to find a willing girl to date me, right? It’s not like the chick in Vegas was hot, and it’s not like I’m broke.
I generally like the Modell’s (and frankly, Art Modell needs to be in the Hall of Fame – it’s ridiculous he isn’t in there)…but David Modell needs a cap on one thing in his idea.
The idea of naming rights and sponsorship.
If teams are going to be rewarded for their efforts in that regard, the league better put in place a rule that this advertising has to be kept to a level. Otherwise things can become WAY too corporate, and you’ll see sponsors on team jerseys, etc.
Obviously there are sponsors everywhere now, but I’m worried about the actual game on the field. I don’t want it to have corporate logos painted on the grass, on teams helmets, etc.
If that can be kept to a minimum, then Mr. Modell has a good idea going.
guy was an absolute lunatic when he was an owner. nice to see some things never change.
.
yeah cuz his dad was such a great businessman that he had to sellout his supportive city to get the rest of his businesses out of the RED. Think that little turd learned from fArt’s mistakes or think he’s broken from the same mold???
…yeah, ME TOO!
How Long is Rooney obligated to stay in Ireland? Can we trade for him? We can give Ireland Mike Brown and a sack of potatoes.
Take an open market and restrict it under a central planning authority? This is a terrible idea.
Anything involving a Modell and other people’s money is presumably a bad idea.
Who gives a rats ass what junior Modell thinks? This guy is a few IQ points up from a retard, and he’s getting an essay published in the WSJ? WTF??? He can’t even spell essay, let alone write one.
Junior is the main reason Artie gave for effing Cleveland and moving the franchise to B-More. he needed to ensure that his son was financially taken care of before he croaked. Looks like that didn’t work out as planned.
I hope him and his old man rot in hell.
Signed,
Bitter Cleveland Browns fan
Yeah, lets make a guy named Modell the czar. Better yet, place his committee in Cleveland.
well he stays in ireland because those darn lucky charms are so magically delicious!
Did he come up with the idea in rehab?
They couldn’t manage one team…so let’s let him manage them all????
Some teams in small markets are doing mcuh more than their fair share, such as the Chiefs and the Packers.
Some are doing badly in what should be good markets and suck up NFL Welfare in the supplemental revenue sharing. The vikings are the prime example. They could not even sell out a playoff game last year in one of the NFL’s smallest Arenas.
Jerry Jones spoke the truth and was fined 100K which was unfair.
The time has come to punish the Mike Browns and Zygi Wilfs and make them start contributing instead of sucking revenue from the NFL!!
Boy Sherman is a genius! In all seriousness, he’s really not.
This is about a dumb of a idea as giving rookies multimillion dollar guarenteed contracts!
Steelbird says:
March 11, 2010 2:02 PM
How Long is Rooney obligated to stay in Ireland? Can we trade for him? We can give Ireland Mike Brown and a sack of potatoes.
Damn Steelbird what do you have against the Irish? Mikey Brown? Dude that’s harsh not to mention cruel.
i like the idea even tho his father is a maggot slimball…..liek i read on here we do not need another MLB were the Yanks,Red Sox and mets have and spend all the money
Tdawg- that is the most idiodic statement I’ve ever heard by a person who has no clue of what happened with art Moving the team out of cleavland. First off he did not want to move his franchise, he had to sit there and watch the city of clevland screw him
over by giving the 76′ers a new arena, and move the Indians into a brand new stadium when the used to play in his stadium and was his source of revenue, then when he finally asks for a new stadium they say no and tried to call his bluff so he moved the franchise to Baltimore and on his first speech after the move he apologized to the fans of clevland. Atleast he left the colors the name and the records unlike Baltimore who didn’t get a thing so I’m so sorry that your horrible team got moved because your city treated the owner like trash and then u get a new team and a new stadium and they’re still terrible
signed Baltimore fan who’s team has a Lombardi trophy
Wow, this website sometimes, makes me realize American are just stupid. 1/2 the comments are negative because this is coming from the mouth of a Modell. The other 1/2 are not understanding what Mr. Modell is proposing.
The problem with this CBA was as much between the players and the owners as it was WITHIN the Owners RE: revenue sharing.
David Modell is saying, split the revenue 32 ways, but then have incentives to actually field competitive teams and sell out tickets and merchandize.
Why don’t you just have each team keep its own revenue? Because then you’re going to make the NFL Major League baseball, and parity is probably the #1 thing outside of physical contact / hits that makes the NFL different from MLB/NBA/Hockey, etc
You need a system that keeps franchises afloat while they aren’t doing well while punishing them at the same time.
maybe young modell went to the nancy pelosi school of negotiating… ie, we have to pass the health care bill so you subjects can then see what is in it!
Was there really a comment made about Ben Roethlisberger on an article about Art Modell’s son and the labor crisis? Really?
AKA “An Open Letter to Mike Brown”
Cameltoecleavage,
It was going to be the baltimore browns, he only left the name and colors because the old school owners led by rooney would not aprove of it. In fact, the rooneys were really good friends with Modell up until that point, because they thought he had screwed over one of the better NFL fan bases.
Is David into the smack again? Guess Art’s moving money couldn’t afford a 4th stint in rehab. FYI: The City of Cleveland had to sue Modell to keep the colors and name. Art left nothing.
Steelbird says:
March 11, 2010 2:02 PM
How Long is Rooney obligated to stay in Ireland? Can we trade for him? We can give Ireland Mike Brown and a sack of potatoes.
==================================
Steelbird…I think giving Mike Brown to Ireland would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. For Ireland. And Ireland punishes itself every day-an inherant Irish trait.
Mike Brown couldn’t survive playing by those rules. As Mike Ditka said about George Halas, “That man throws nickels around like manhole covers.”
Yep, David would know. He’s a master negotiator. His favorite technique, if I remember correctly, is waving a cigar and telling em “You won’t get a penny more”!
Lord, no, let’s not be fair. If we were my Buccaneers under the Glazers would never get another dime with the crap coaching and product they are putting out.
Perhaps the penalty should be imposed upon those owners who do little or nothing to improve the overall product on the field. That hurts all because it will eventually drive the customers away. In 2009 some of the worst ever football was played in the NFL. Some truly horrid teams, with lousy players and coaches took the field for whatever reason. Hopeful fans still shelled out the bucks to watch those awful games. No one received a refund for that crappy product. So, here is a better way. As a penalty, no stinko team should be permitted to raise ticket prices the following season, and, they should refund a percentage of ticket prices in the games that they lose back to the fans for stinking up the joint. Lets see, Bucs, Skins, Bills, Browns, Seahawks, Raiduhs, SF, Gints, Jags, Panthers, Titans, and about 15 other teams that put out little or no effort should return fans’ money as their penalty. Let’s see how far that goes Mr. Modell.
The Modell family couldn’t even run their lone franchise successfully and profitably. After multiple cash infusions including moving the franchise to Maryland and selling off a percentage of the team, they still couldn’t keep it afloat. This is not the family you want involved in helping to manage the league’s money. Modell should just sit and shut up. If he wanted a voice at the table, he should have held onto the team his family paid next to nothing for but continually drained of cash like a nightmarish financial vampire. I only wish the franchise had never won a Superbowl while the Modell’s owned it.
after many years, the NFL is finally modell-free, let’s keep it that way.
This is a horrible idea and will never happen.
Yes teams being penalized for not trying as hard is a good idea but every team doesnt deserve to make the same amount of money even if they are trying their best.
For example say if theirs 2 owners that are trying the best they can to make more money but 1 of the owners went out and hired a Good G.M., coach, team president, and they hired good players and in turn won alot of games. Then the other Owner made some bad decisions and made bad hires and that team lost alot of games. The winning team will make more money.
Now the owner that was smart and made good decisions shouldnt be forced to share his money with the other idiot owner just because he tried harder.
That is not what football is about. Football is about what ever team makes the best moves at the right time wins. You dont win superbowls by trying just as hard as everyone else you win by being smarter and more talented. And thats how they should base who makes the most money.
Yes their should be some revenue sharing just to keep the other teams competitive but not to the point that you get just as much money as the best organizations just because you tried as hard as they did.
This is America not Canada.
Cameltoecleave-
Are you EFFing kidding me?? The city of Cleveland screwed Modell? Does anybody outside of Baltimore believe that for a second?
You are the moron that has no clue what your talking about. You are simply puking out the same kool aid that all Baltimorons were fed. What Modell was told was that he couldn’t get a new stadium RIGHT now, when he wanted it. Cleveland is not a big city. Building Jacobs Field and the Q stretched the limits of what funds could be raised. The Indians were close to folding, and the Cavs played 30 miles out of town. (notice I said Cavs, not 76′ers, idiot!). Meanwhile, Modell and his Browns sold out every game at that 80,000 plus seat stadium for 15 years or so. he had plenty of revenue coming in, he just couldn’t manage money for a shit, as he clearly demonstrated in Baltimore where he was forced to sell to Bisciotti before he pissed away all his money again. Obviously, the city of Cleveland was able to build a new stadium, but it would take a few more years to get the financing.
You would think a city that had their own team jacked years earlier would be a little more sympathetic, but not you a-holes. Go back to your STD-infested city and shut the F up.
Florio, c’mon. You took my post about selling NFL cookies down. That was funny, at least I thought so.
There was nothing offensive in that post, or in bad taste. And if you thought there was how about posting paramaters for future guidance.
What makes me laugh is how few of you really have an idea about what you’re talking about. Seriously, how many of you financial geniuses could take over in Detroit and come up with better corporate sponsors or naming rights fees or anything else given the economic conditions in the city. It’s utterly stupid to try to punish people who CAN’T do any better, even if they wanted to do so. If the architects of this crap think that they’re such geniuses then why in the hell don’t they go into Minnesota, Oakland, Jacksonville, etc and help them fix their problems instead of bitching about it. Could it be that they KNOW that they CAN’T and it’s easier to bitch about it and let everyone else think that these guys are nothing but a bunch of leeches – nah, that would be too easy an explanation, right?
I dare Jerry Jones to go into Minnesota and try to get a stadium built with the kind of friendly terms that he got in Dallas. Let’s see him try to get $15,000-$50,000 for PSL seating AND $3400 per season ticket holders for those seats like he did in Dallas. Even better, I’d love to see him to try to pull that baloney in Oakland. The city tried to pull off a PSL there and it was so unwelcome that the Raiders got the PSL killed.
While I’m all for getting these teams to maximize their efforts, there are going to be teams that can’t do any better because of their situation. Imagine cutting off revenue sharing and letting each team fend for themselves. While I’m sure that there are people in Green Bay who believe that they could get a national contract that rivals that of Dallas, the fact is that they would be so far down on the list that they would have a hard time competing for the TV dollar. They’d be looking up at both “New York” teams, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington, the LA team(s), Philadelphia, New England and several others.
Of course, you’ve also got the hard-headed fans that believe in tradition so much that they would revolt if the team tried to sell naming rights so why penalize the team for something that they can’t do (Never mind that their teams were named after corporate sponsors). How about the fans who can’t afford to pay $100+ per ticket and they only pay $50-$60 so why penalize the owners of their teams for something that they are unable to do?
Oh and paying a lot of money for your team DOESN’T translate to wins or else the Redskins would have had 5 or 6 more Super Bowls since Dan Snyder took them over.
Some of you guys need to think about all of this instead of just parroting the bull crap that Jerry Jones and his ilk have been saying. Jerry has shown that when he’s been forced to deal with football outside the Cowboys (Dallas Desperadoes), he’s not even close to the genius that he wants many of you to believe that he is (and that’s been the case for all of the NFL owners).
Yeah, but why stop with the NFL’s labor mess, why not just leave a Modell in charge of the whole league… He’d not only move the Super Bowl to London, he’d move NFL headquarters to London as well – even after the local fans vote in favor of taxing themselves to pay for a new headquarters building…
surefooted = total moron!
Thanks Mike (!), I agree. The Czar-thing was obviously tongue and cheek and in the context of a zillion word article. And thanks to anyone for even caring enough to write a comment. But, please, don’t insult a box of rocks that way…
Seriously, the bit in the WSJ, which I appreciate very much, was just a sliver of a much larger piece I was asked to write by my friends at pressbox.com in Baltimore. I am thrilled that it will run there – anywhere really – and I invite you to read the entire article. I am also proud to say that you can read this in its entirety as well as other non-sports articles I have written for armstrongwilliams.com.
If you think I am dumb after reading the NFL piece, wait ’til you see the others!
Peace
after many years, the NFL is finally modell-free, let’s keep it that way.
Listen up idiots, if you think the City of Cleveland screwed over Modell? Get a f-ing clue. Modell was about to kick the Indians to the curb and the city and it’s voters passed the “sin” tax to help build the Gateway complex for the Indians and Cavs. Modell then “graciously” donated a half mill to the complex. Then he dumped a couple of mill into his stadium that he owned for a scoreboard, new seats, new sound system and other tidbits. What burned Modell was all the money he spent on players in the late 80′s and got nothing to show for it. It has been documented by the NFL that Modell spent more on player personnel during the late 80′s then any other NFL team. Let’s not forget Andre Rison and the banks he went to to secure financing to pay a signing bonus. So hear is my question: after all the years of owning the team- I mean he bought the team cheap- where did the money go? He owned the stadium debt free. He bought the team cheap. He had one of the largest stadiums and sold out the thing. He helped usher in TV revenue. So did it go up David’s nose? Did it go into failed businesses? Tell me? where did the f-ing money go?
If Art and his son step foot in Cleveland, the fans will carve them up like a Thanksgiving Day turkey in a homeless shelter. I’m glad thY family is out of football. Obviously the WSJ has nothing better to put in their paper. Be thankful B-More that the Modell’s are gone.
I would love to see Modell in the hall. It would be the biggest turnout ever in Canton for the enshrinement. All hell would break loose!
@ tdawg69 – Right on brother! How can a city that had its team ripped from them in the middle of the night say that shit? Cameltoecleavage is obviously retarted, as the clip from an article below shows:
In 1973, then-Browns owner Art Modell offered to lease Cleveland Stadium for $1 per year, an arrangement which the city accepted. In exchange, Modell’s newly-formed company, Stadium Corporation, assumed the expenses of operations from the city, freeing up tax dollars for other expenses. Stadium Corp invested in improvements, including new electronic scoreboards and luxury suites. Renting the suites and the scoreboard advertising generated substantial revenue for Stadium Corp and Modell.
However, Modell refused to share the suite revenue with the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team (which also played at Cleveland Stadium), even though much of the revenues were generated during baseball games as well as football games.
Eventually, the Indians prevailed upon the local governments and voters and convinced them to build them their own facility where they controlled the suite revenue. Modell, mistakenly believing that his revenues were not endangered, refused to participate in the Gateway Project that built Jacobs Field for the Indians and Gund Arena for the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. Modell’s assumptions proved incorrect, and Stadium Corp’s suite revenues declined sharply when the Indians moved from the stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994.
What isn’t mentioned in the article is that MLB said if there was no new stadium for the Tribe then Cleveland would lose the franchise.
And the prodigy of this man is who you want to run the ENTIRE LEAGUE?
Whooo-eeee. Seems like the moving activity was just yesterday versus fifteen – yes fifteen!!! – years ago.
If everyone wants to be more honest and less emotional about it… No one (Us, Them, You – no one) did a good enough job way back when to avoid a very difficult situation. But, history is what it is.
That said, in the end did it not turn out alright in relatively short order for all parties concerned (the League, both cities, both sets of fans)? I think so (I obviously would). So, why the continued intense anger? Maybe being able to rant directly at me is cathartic for some. I really hope so. Maybe you just need that moment to get it off your chest directly – so good on ya, I hope you feel better now.
Maybe I’ll write something about the move on my regular blog at armstrongwilliams.com. Stay tuned!
Peace.
F-you David Modell. Yes it was 15 years ago, but don’t try to tell me that if they had yet to get another franchise in B-more THEY wouldn’t still be pissed about what happened to them. I hate Irsay too and I have never liked the Colts. As it is they got a franchise that just needed to get rid of the current owner and not just start from scratch like Cleveland with the rat-bastard that helped B-more thieve that team.
Bitter? Me? No way.
The real prooblem??? – The real problem is that there are, at most, 12 “Major League” cities in America and putting a team in a city does not make it Major League or make it able to compete financially with the cities with population bases capable of supporting a team. Gerrymandering the financing is not going to solve the problem. As long as the Major League teams are forced to support the also rans you’re going to have problems.
Rude, ill-mannered, ignorant, condescending and “always recovering” are just some the descriptions that come to mind when the name David Modell is mentioned. To seriously consider anything related to sports’ businss success from someone named Modell is just plain stupid.