Hey, Republicans: The NFL is a Business
By Anton at October 14th, 2009.
Rush Limbaugh is no longer part of the team of investors hoping to buy the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams. Good riddance. Maybe now Republicans and conservatives can reflect and understand the term ‘picking your battles’ is an adage that doesn’t just translate to a successful marriage.
Limbaugh makes an exorbitant amount of money pontificating on all things political and cultural on his incredibly successful radio show. Limbaugh is both boastful and self deprecating on his show. He can show an incredible depth of knowledge and a minute later shoot off at the mouth like a grade schooler. He’s both likable and maddening. He’s larger than life. He’s entertaining. He’s a showman. He’s a blowhard. He’s, at times, controversial. First and foremost, he is a business man and he is very, very good at his chosen profession. Unfortunately for him, his success in radio does not translate well in the NFL.
Because of his larger-than-life persona and his almost absurd ability to impact the collective consciousness of Americans, the NFL is not all that interested in him. The NFL’s disinterest in Limbaugh is not politically motivated, however. The NFL wants owners who provide little flash because owners have little or nothing to do with the product the league is selling. The NFL is successful because its athletes perform at an incredible level and provide unique entertainment, not because its owners generate headlines and say controversial things on the radio. Quick, other than Paul Allen in Seattle and Jerry Jones in Dallas, name five NFL owners. Do it quick. How did that turn out? NFL owners largely keep to themselves; something Limbaugh hasn’t done in decades. The ultimate point is this: The NFL doesn’t need Limbaugh because he may not be good for business. The Rams need to be sold, that is for sure, but Limbaugh can easily be replaced as a minority investor. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has enough to worry about without adding one of the most outspoken, recognizable and often infuriating personalities in America as a minority owner.
Unfortunately, rather than seeing the story for what it is – a major global business choosing not to open its arms to a polarizing potential owner – conservatives and Republicans are up in arms about all types of double standards, Al Sharpton and, somehow, President Obama. Can’t conservatives allow Sharpton to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong once without reacting? Who cares about what Reverend Al has to say? You know who’s opinion does matter though? Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith. Somehow, Republicans and conservatives – in their fervor to blame someone else for a Limbaugh related controversy – honestly, how ridiculous is that? – forgot that Smith and Irsay made it clear to Goodell and anyone willing to listen that they were opposed to Limbaugh’s NFL venture before Sharpton and his ilk said anything. Did Irsay and Smith do that because Limbaugh is such an affront to their delicate sensibilities? Perhaps, but my bet is they knew his inclusion in the NFL potentially hurt their bottom line. Heck, Irsay may be a Republican and a dittohead (plenty of the NFL owners are).
So, Republicans, do everyone a favor and tone down the Limbaugh rhetoric. Pay attention to the NFL’s business model over the next couple months and maybe you’ll see the Limbaugh story had very little to do with politics. Pick your battles, there will be plenty coming up. Just because it may be a slow news day doesn’t mean Sean Hannity has to seem extra indignant on Fox News and confuse politics with business.
Photo licensed under Creative Commons 2.0: Flickr.
Tags: Al Sharpton, Dallas, DeMaurice Smith, featured, Indianapolis colts, Jerry Jones, Jim Irsay, Paul Allen, President Obama, Roger Goodell, Rush Limbaugh, Seattle, St. Louis Rams
Anton
Anton Northwood is a Seattle resident who spends much of his time working on the Eastside.
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Is everybody forgetting during the presidential campaign that Rush gleefully sang the song “Barack the magic Negro” on his radio show. Does anybody have a clue how offensive the term negro is in the black community, especially from a white man. Is that how Rush is going to address his players? “Hey folks, take a look at my stable of magic negro’s” Unbelievable!
Jeff: Just to correct your point, Rush didn’t “gleefully” sing “Barack the magic Negro” on his radio show. It was a piece of satire produced and performed by someone else for his radio show.
I think the larger point isn’t that the NFL is a business that wants to keep the focus on the action on the field, but that “The National Football League” (as they increasingly like to refer to themselves, all spelled out, because initials are for leagues that lack the prestige of The National Football League) is an incredibly staid, risk-averse organization. When revenues grow to astronomical figures, the natural tendency is to discourage personality from anyone around the organization. Prime examples are the league’s heavy hand against “excessive” celebrating and their best efforts to prevent Chad Ochocinco from changing his name. The net result in the long run for the NFL might be a flavorless product that people get bored with, the same fate that NASCAR is currently suffering. When the sport got big and the sponsorships grew proportionally, the preferred drivers of the big corporate interests were bland, pretty, and thoroughly inoffensive.
You probably have a point. At the same time, I think the NBA and David Stern is paying for employing a model a little too risky and not staid enough. In other words, you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.
I agree, but I also think Stern is in a different situation and doesn’t have much choice in the matter. The teams are going to choose the most talented players, and those players are on the court 10 at a time, with no helmets to hide their faces, and no sleeves to hide their tattoos. We see their visceral reactions; we see them as individuals, not uniforms. So the options left to Stern are small ones, like requiring the players to wear suits on the bench when they’re injured.
I think the larger point isn’t that the NFL is a business that wants to keep the focus on the action on the field, but that “The National Football League” (as they increasingly like to refer to themselves, all spelled out, because initials are for leagues that lack the prestige of The National Football League) is an incredibly staid, risk-averse organization. When revenues grow to astronomical figures, the natural tendency is to discourage personality from anyone around the organization. Prime examples are the league’s heavy hand against “excessive” celebrating and their best efforts to prevent Chad Ochocinco from changing his name. The net result in the long run for the NFL might be a flavorless product that people get bored with, the same fate that NASCAR is currently suffering. When the sport got big and the sponsorships grew proportionally, the preferred drivers of the big corporate interests were bland, pretty, and thoroughly inoffensive.
P.S. – Sorry, forgot to tell you great post!
hearing the comments from the left stone throwers just shows
how petty they are….to stoop to their level I say: “How blind
and obtuse you are to think that this man shouldn’t have the freedom
to persue his dream, the NFL is laced with wife beaters, accused
murderers, drug addicts to name a few.” Here come the left wing
media accusing him of saying things he never did, I hope he makes
his money on lawsuits by suing the left wing news….in conclusion I
think Jeff is a sensitive hypocrite who cries about everything that
bothers him, grow up sissy.
Perhaps the most common refrain from conspiracy theorists (dittoheads) on this issue is “Well, Michael Vick killed and tortured dogs and they let him in the NFL but they won’t let Rush in because he’s a conservative. That’s prejudice, bias, whatever).” Truthfully, Vick was tried, convicted and punished for his crimes. When his incarceration ended, the NFL reinstated him because he already paid his debt to society, he posed no risk to re-offend, and – this is the most important part – he does something for the product the NFL is selling that no one else in the world has shown the ability to do. Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand, constantly says things that can reasonably be described as “offensive” and he is, most definitely, a polarizing figure. Therefore, the NFL reasonably concluded his inclusion in the league could do more harm to their product then good. Most importantly, though, Limbaugh can (and will) be easily replaced as a minority investor. Vick can’t. The comparison is apples and oranges. Again, like I said in the original piece, this is a business story, not a political one.
Sorry, but sitting by quietly at this outrage, while what fringe leftists like “Anton” would like may sit well in the face of all the empty suit’s broken promises to the left, it would be asinine to allow this particular act of rank hypocrisy to go unanswered.
I cannot deny that it’s a business… a business given massive tax breaks and other major advantages that no other businesses are allowed at the forbearance of The People.
But when Goodel and others allow, for example, players who’ve engaged in breaking the law to play; “people” (using the term advisedly) like Vick to come back after his horrific violations of both the law and common decency only to engage in leftist race baiting by the likes of Al “Tawana Brawley” Sharpton to engage in this kind of rank discrimination that the left loves so much.
The fact is that Limbaugh espouses ideas that certain people, like “Anton,” want silenced. “Punishing” people for ideas that don’t “fit” may be the kind of cult of personality espoused by the messiah, but censoring ideas and punishing people for speaking them, like the Not a Fan any Longer has done here… is the kind of thing that would drive Anton to suicide if the target had been a fellow leftist.
So Anton, do yourself a favor. If we need any advice from a fringe left nutjob, we’ll make sure to give you a call.
If Anton’s a leftist than I’m a teetotaler.
Just a Guy: In a nutshell, here’s what you wrote in the comment threads: Limbaugh being removed from a team of investors planning to buy the St. Louis Rams amounts to censorship and Al Sharpton and the “messiah” (I assume that’s President Obama) did it and I’m a leftist nutjob for saying otherwise. In response, I say this: Hey, “Just a Guy”, listen to Rush being “censored” everyday on the radio if he makes you feel smart and supported and leave the reasonable and fact-based analysis to people who have the ability to be reasonable and use facts productively. If that makes me a leftist nutjob in your mind then so be it.