Business of Football 2007

Forbes recently released their 2007 version of the NFL's franchise values and as usual common sense would prove to be wrong. I don't question Dallas, Washington and New England at the top, but after that things get a little crazy. Dallas at $1.5 billion! Imagine what that will jump to when the new joint opens up. Very nice job Jerral!

Where things get confusing is with Houston at #4, Denver at #6 and Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Carolina at #11, 12, 13 and 14 respectively. I understand where the figures come from and how everything is calculated and see that the numbers don't lie, but it's still impossible to not question this.

How can the Cleveland Browns be at #9 with a value of $969MM and the 5-Time Super Bowl Champion Steelers be at #16 with a value of $929MM? Sure, we are only talking about a $49MM difference, but my heart and common sense tell me this can't be.

The Browns are a team that over the past few years is known for no-shows. They sell just about all the seats, but not all the fans attend. The Steelers pack the house for even pre-season games and have a waiting list that parallels Green Bay's. The Steelers are #1 in the NFL in team merchandise sales, including #1 in jersey sales. The Browns are no where close to this. They both have new facilities, spend about the same on their players and take in the same $40MM in gate revenue. You can't tell me that the Steelers operating costs are any more than the Browns' is.

Every baseball, football, basketball and even soccer and hockey season, I am always amazed at how these rankings turn out. This would make a great fantasy pool heading towards the release of the list. No way anyone gets all 32 NFL teams in the correct order.