On Tuesday, the NFL opened the door for each team (other than the publicly-owned Packers) to sell up to 10 percent of the franchise to one or more private-equity funds. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones addressed with reporters on Wednesday the question of whether he envisions shaving off a slice of the most valuable team in the league.
“I’m not trying to be evasive in any way,” Jones said. “But, yes, the correct statement is I’m not looking to do it. I don’t want to foreclose anything as far as the future is concerned. But we have not been in that kind of . . . thought.”
Jones realizes that it makes sense to never say completely and totally never when it comes to possibly giving up a small piece of the team in exchange for a massive return.
“You’re foolish if you don’t get up every day and really look at how the tea leaves look on any at any given time,” Jones said. “I do want to say this. Never is never. Never should be never. Having said that, there’s no doubt that this is going to make us have a better league. There’s no doubt that it would give more financial flexibility, which in and of itself, since my experience in the NFL and when I look back at the financial viability of where we were in 1989 compared to where we are today and this type of thing that we voted to do yesterday will enhance this game for you, fans, professionals in the game, for the players, for the fans. And it will create more financial viability and let us take advantage of the great following and the great interest that we have in the game. And I don’t have specifics, but it will and you could clearly see that it was a unanimous affirmation there that this was good for fans, good for the league. Let me say this, anything that’s good for fans is good for the league.”
It’s unclear how it would be good for the fans to open the door for institutional investment in NFL teams. It’s good for the owners when it comes to getting more money for a percentage of their teams. If that money is going to be invested in things that fans (and/or taxpayers) would otherwise pay for, then that’s good for fans. If not, it’s only good for the owners.
And that’s really the thing that states, counties, and municipalities should be considering, now that teams can sell a chunk of the franchise to raise money. Why is public money needed to build or renovate a stadium when a portion of the franchise equity can be converted into hundreds of millions if not upwards of a billion?