[RD] Colin Kaepernick

[Gori the Grey]

Yeah, I'll go out on a limb and predict that the era in which owning an NFL franchise is equivalent to "throwing money away" will just keep receding and receding as we seem on the verge of reaching it.

There should be a phrase for this phenomenon: when you think you're reaching something and then it just gets moved a little further down the way . . . .

 

[JollyRoger]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtba...t-valuable-teams-at-4-8-billion/#511c50ac243f

Published today. Highlights include the increasing value of the teams from last year and the expected big raises for renewal of broadcasting contracts this year. Unmentioned is the decreased expenses for moving goalposts as there are many with extensive experience willing to do it for free.

 

[caketastydelish]

Yeah, the only argument you could feasibly make for "NFL team if a bad investment" is only based on what could be, not what is now.

Baseball has declined in popularity in America in the past 40 years or so. That's not to say nobody watches it, but it's not what it was. Popularity of sports changing in America has happened before, and will most likely continue.

Millenials (and to a larger extent, the kids who are replacing them) are more interested in soccer than Gen X and Boomers. Many of them grew up playing as kids, and also watch soccer on TV as well. Many of them prefer watching over the NFL, among other things.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/darren...osing-the-gap-with-the-big-four/#46aa60846c20

http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/08/mls_soccer_is_growing.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shane-paul-neil/soccer-is-here-for-real-t_b_9730440.html

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2016/10/21/the-rise-of-soccer-the-growing-influence-of-usa-on-football/

But even then, I would say we'd have to wait 10 years minimum for seeing in real effects.

 

[Arwon]

I'm not sure any privately owned sporting team is really much of a license to print money. Any decent owner would be re-investing surplus/profits into greater competitiveness.

 

[Berzerker]

I wouldn't invest in football... some day it'll be illegal for parents to subject their children to such abuse

nah

 

[rah]

I'm sure buying the Cubs a few years back turned out to be a real crappy investment.

 

[caketastydelish]

So the Cubs have only won the World Series once and they are already a great investment? (sensed the obvious sarcasm)

They are not even remotely close to a 'legacy team' or whatever it's called. They are not Golden State, or the Patriots, or whatever.

 

[Bamspeedy]

22% increase in value over one year. Winning one world series helps the bottom line, just a wee bit.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...yrockets-in-new-forbes-ranking-419160364.html

 

[rah]

The discussion wasn't about whether they're a legacy team, it's whether it was a good investment.
They have bought property around the park and really leveraging their investment. But feel free to ignore the obvious.

 

[caketastydelish]

Don't you think the value will decrease once the bandwagoners leave?

 

[Bamspeedy]

Cleveland Browns value has doubled in 5 years from 987 mil in 2012 to 1950 mil in 2017. And you know how awful they've been for....

In baseball, Milwaukee Brewers more than quadrupled in value from 2005 to 2017 (Ok, they are playing good this year, but I doubt all of the increase in value just came this year).
Sometimes corrections are needed (see Montreal Expos then, and Washington Nationals now)

https://www.forbes.com/teams/cleveland-browns/
https://www.forbes.com/teams/milwaukee-brewers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Expos
https://www.forbes.com/teams/washington-nationals/

 

[rah]

Don't you think the value will decrease once the bandwagoners leave?

No, because they've been really smart about it. They've purchased almost all the rooftops surrounding the park and have built a mini city around it. Wrigley Field is a shrine to baseball and is a tourist attraction no matter how bad they're playing. Their attendance was over 2.5 mil most of the years even when they were rebuilding. It's a destination for a party. A lot of diehards complain that people are there more to party then to pay attention to baseball. Now if they had bought the team and moved it to the burbs, I would have agreed with you.

 

[EgonSpengler]

There's a story going around about a youth-league football team who took a knee during the national anthem. Tommy Smith, John Carlos and Muhammad Ali didn't live during the era of cellphone cameras and social media and 24-hour coverage. I guess we'll never know what might have been different if they had (for them personally, probably not a lot).

 

[metatron]

This is Alejandro Villanueva, apparently apologising for not kneeling with the rest of the Steelers.
He was an Army Ranger and served 3 tours in Afghanistan.

Three questions:
1. Really?
2. We all understand that this is how this whole thing may just manage to get unpopular?
3. Is the dude wearing kurzgesagt merch?

I can't help but notice once more what a curious country you people are running, in no small part on account of item #3.^^

 

[Kyriakos]

So, Kaepernick is this year's Tebow sideshow?

:/

They say that a country in need of heroes is one already in great trouble - but if you seek political breakthrough in the world of some sport.... well...

 

[rah]

Going to be hard to prove collusion.
It would be tough to sit in court and hear the other side drone on and on and how much you sucked to prove it wasn't simple collusion.

 

[metalhead]

The Titans signed Brandon Weeden when Mariota got hurt and didn't even give Kaepernick a tryout. Collusion or not, there is zero football justification for that.

 

[Arwon]

Going to be hard to prove collusion.
It would be tough to sit in court and hear the other side drone on and on and how much you sucked to prove it wasn't simple collusion.

On the other hand there should be plenty of footage to show of sucky QBs who have gigs

 

[metalhead]

They say that a country in need of heroes is one already in great trouble - but if you seek political breakthrough in the world of some sport.... well...

An odd statement considering your proximity to the Hippodrome in what once was Constantinople.

I mean, I hope it doesn't come to that, but sport and politics have been intertwined for millennia.

 

[Kyriakos]

An odd statement considering your proximity to the Hippodrome in what once was Constantinople.

I mean, I hope it doesn't come to that, but sport and politics have been intertwined for millennia.

Well, the team supporters in the Hippodrome were (got to be) actual political factions, though Nika!