Every year we see various fanbases complain about the ownership of their favorite NFL team and wishing they would do better/sell, ect. Many dislike their ownership for perceived incompententcies in running the organization (Mark Davis, David Tepper), others dislike their owner based on personal dislike (Dan Snyder before he sold). So my question for you: what makes a good NFL owner? Should they be highly involved in team decision making ala Jerry Jones? Be way hands off like Kroenke? Does their participation in the community matter as much as winning championships? Or do you just want success?
Edit: I guess I should say, this is an excellent opportunity for Packers shareholders to pat themselves on the back
Trust in your employees. Why hire a GM and head coach if you don’t trust their assessment of the best way to run a team?
-
Cares about the team
-
Willing to spend
-
Highly invested in making the right hires, but then largely hands off as far as letting them run the ship, and only really stepping in to mediate disputes, or to make the Texans take Stroud instead of punting on QB to take a linebacker at #2.
-
Views winning as the best way to make money
-
Try to be more like Jeffrey Lurie and less like most of the other owners
I like Irsay. He says stupid shit to take off of the on field product
Be fucking awesome like Jim Irsay.
Homer take, but Steve Bisciotti seems to be a good owner, and these are some of the observations I’ve either gleaned or imagined:
- Care about the community you belong to. I know lots of teams do it, but it seems like the Ravens are giving back to the community *every week*, and unlike a lot of teams, where it’s new draft picks and third stringers going out and giving back, we actually have Lamar Jackson handing out turkeys to those who need them.
- Care about your team’s culture and know how to hire for it. It’s hard to hear the words “Baltimore Ravens” on sports talk shows without a comment about how well we’re run. With *extremely* few asterisks, ex-players always brag about how much they enjoyed their tenure here. It is absolutely common when a trade happens that the traded player was more interested in us because of an ex-Raven they asked about us.
- Care about character at every level. Yes, we’ve had bad apples on the team. Every team has and every team does… but ever since Ray Rice’s very public incident, we’ve attempted as much as possible to steer away from players with character concerns. This one kind of goes hand in hand with the one above, and maybe it’s just a homer-stance, but y’know, we weren’t pursuing anyone with $230 million worth of allegations (nor should we.)
- Be realistic about when to push the pedal. It’s hard knowing when your SB window is open and when it isn’t, and if you put all your chips in thinking it is and are derailed by injuries, it’s hard to come back from. I think that the Rams did a great job going all-in trying to establish a new fanbase after moving from StL, but generally that’s not a workable strategy. The cap *is* real, and someone has to care for it eventually.
- Know when to interfere. When not to. When to make a strong suggestion. Etc. This is the hardest one that I think most owners get wrong (or recency bias has Tepper in my brain) but I’m just going to leave it vague here and let you infer that this should recommend being the opposite of Dan Snyder.
NBA is all about the star player. MLB is all about the executive. College is all about the coach. NFL is all about the owner.
Cowboys have always made good moves and drafted well, but it’s a sure bet they will NEVER be in the super bowl because Jerry has a terrible relationship with Goodell. Ask any Dallas fan, and they will run down the feud between the two. On the otherside, Jeffrey Lurie has one of the best relationships with Goodell.
But what does that entail.
Well, most importantly, EVERYTHING. Anytime something comes up that may impact your team Goodell will fight for you. While true, Goodell represents the 31 other owners on paper, most owners are very passive, and are happy with their share of revenue and have very little interest to compete, ie spend money, not just on players, but on the necessary resources to make their team better from the ground up. Most don’t really care to leverage their relationship with the commissioner, except for a few select teams. The owners in good standing with Goodell, will receive extra benefit mainly from how the game is officiated.
No, the game isn’t scripted. But all professional sports have a history of massaging results. One way is by meticulously placing refs with certain tendencies and biases to officiate certain games (ie. Duane Heydt who is barred from officiating in college, but not the NFL, Tim Donaghy, etc). That’s essentially the reality of all sports. BUT football and soccer, might be the most impactful with such relationship because the nature of the sport is so punitive when it comes to officiating, is largely arbitrary, and one-sided on who holds all the influence in the game. Is it a problem? probably not. People are starting to figure out the NFL is more of an entertainment product than a legitimate competition, but it doesn’t stop the viewers from tuning in every sunday. If anything the drama is more entertaining than the sport itself–look at the NBA.
But to answer your question. What it takes to be a good NFL owner? DONT PISS OFF THE COMMISSIONER and the MAJORITY of owners in the league. Because not every owner has the power to win a super bowl themselves, but they have the power to stop your team from winning one, especially if the owner of your team is truly despised.
Humility