The upper management that runs the publicly-owned Green Bay Packers may have some explaining to do the next time it attends meetings with the owners of the NFL's 31 privately held franchises. That's because recent news of the Packers' operating profit of over $20 million last year appears to hurt the owners' argument that opting out of the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement with the players was necessary. If a franchise in a miniscule market can turn a profit during a historically down economy, what does that say about big money owners like Dan Snyder and Robert Kraft?
Think about this. Many teams over the past 18 months have laid off dozens of low payroll employees. Those moves look heartless if it turns out those teams are still bringing in millions in profit, even if it is less than it had been in recent years. Telling an employee with three kids they no longer have health benefits because the owner still wants to rake in $30 million is just bad karma, even if it can be justified as good business.
The Packers have elected to be exceptionally frugal in recent years when it comes to player compensation. Ted Thompson and company have been non-existent in the free agent market the past three years. Instead, they have just given extensions to players already under contract like Aaron Rodgers and Greg Jennings in order to reach the mandated salary floor. That strategy is good for business and arguably a sound football decision, but it doesn't do the other owners any favors when the end of the fiscal year financial information is released by the Packers.
A better strategy, knowing the CBA negotiations were looming, would have been to spend closer to the cap in 2008 and thus negate a lot of the revenue that was being generated. It may not have been ideal in the short term for the Packers but it sure could have strengthened the position and argument of the league going forward. In light of the Packers finances, the supposed plight of the owners' is much less convincing. I'm sure the NFL Players Association is taking notes.
Green Bay Packers = Money Making Machine.
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