As a sign of the current financial health of the NFL, the league’s owners decided last week to increase significantly the ability of each team to tap into the financial health of the nation’s finer lending institutions.
According to Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal, the debt ceiling for each team has been increased from $150 million to $200 million.
“We have a very solid business model,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in explaining the 33-percent expansion of the debt ceiling.
Kaplan points out that, five years ago, the NFL actually tried to decrease the per-team debt limit from $150 million to $125 million. The league dropped the plan after the NFLPA objected, claiming that it was part of an effort to reel in player compensation.
Under that logic, the NFLPA should be happy about this development. But since the NFL and the NFLPA currently are butting heads on every possible issue, it’s unlikely that the NFLPA will be saying anything good about what could be a good development for the rank and file.