Angry Pope
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Our Net Worth...
- Thread starter Angry Pope
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Angry Pope
All Raider
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A New Test For an Old Raider
Monte Burke 09.18.06
Al Davis created the most successful brand in football by plying maverick methods and embracing an outlaw credo. Today he is better known for suing his fellow NFL owners.
Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, approached the lectern at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio last month in his trademark black suit and silver tie, his slicked-back black hair fully silver at the temples. He was there to induct John Madden, the former head coach and famed NFL analyst as the seventeenth "Raidah," as Davis put it in his Brooklyn accent, to grab football's highest honor, including the owner himself.
In his speech, Davis proudly recalled his club's storied history, like an aged and frail general basking in battles won long ago and unaware of the sad state of his army. For the NFL the moment was both fitting and awkward. Davis is 77 years old now, and he has spent more than half his life--43 years--running the Raiders, building the team into one of the richest franchises in football and creating one of the first antihero, unabashedly outlaw brands. He outfitted his team in black and silver. He signed players with renegade attitudes and nicknames straight out of pro wrestling: Ken (the Snake) Stabler, Jack (the Assassin) Tatum, Ted (the Mad Stork) Hendricks. Raider Nation, a motley band of fans, attended games in black face paint, black cloaks and shoulder spikes. The Raiders consistently led the league in merchandise sales. Oakland street gangs wore Raider jerseys.
And Davis personified his kick-ass team, sporting black sunglasses and the slick black hair and coining phrases like "Commitment to Excellence" and "Just win, baby." From 1963 to 1992 the Raiders posted a 285--146--11 record, the best in all major professional sports. Along the way his teams won three Super Bowls, the last one a generation ago, in 1986. "Davis was the first to realize the importance of branding, that the players are what drove fan attachment," says Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp, which tracks team valuations.
But in recent years the traits--his maverick style and combative fearlessness--that made Davis one of the great visionaries in the National Football League have withered into a crotchety contrariness, hurting the value and profits of his beloved team and giving fits to his fellow owners in the NFL. Like an entrepreneur who refuses to hand over his creation to professional managers, Davis has clung to total control and failed to groom a true successor; instead he spends much of his time in litigation with the league
"Darth Vader is a punk compared to Al Davis," the late writer Hunter S. Thompson once said. Sportscorp's Ganis adds: "His off-the-field disputes have required so much of his attention that the Raiders have missed out on the recent great rise in NFL franchise value." FORBES pegs the Raiders' worth at $736 million this year, 22% below the league average of almost $900 million. In the nine years that FORBES has calculated team valuations, the Raiders' cumulative operating income ($116 million) is 42% below the NFL average of $200 million.
One of Davis' bitterest fights, now under way before the highest court in California, may also be one of his last. He rankled the NFL years ago by arbitrarily moving the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982, winning court rulings that said the NFL couldn't stop him--then abandoning Los Angeles and moving back to Oakland in 1995. Thus Los Angeles, the second-largest market in the U.S., has been without an NFL team for a decade. If the new commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, can create a team in Tinseltown, his bosses--the owners--could share in a windfall of $800 million or more.
Yet Al Davis insists that he, not the NFL, holds the rights to the city he abandoned so long ago. He has filed suit asserting so, losing at trial. His first appeal was thrown out, and now Davis is pressing his case before the California Supreme Court. "Al is one of the most important people in terms of growth and building the league," says Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. "But no one likes to be sued all the time by their partners. You like to think we're working together to make the league better. What he does is counterproductive. But that just seems to be his personality." Davis declined to be interviewed for this story.
The Brooklyn-bred Davis was an English major at Syracuse University. He had never played a down of pro football, yet he was enthralled by the game. In 1960 he got his first job in the pros as the offensive coach for the Chargers of the old American Football League (then in Los Angeles and since 1961 in San Diego). Three years later Oakland Raiders co-owners Edward McGah and Wayne Valley hired Davis as head coach; he was only 33 years old. The moribund franchise had a record of 9 wins and 33 losses in three years of existence in the AFL. The owners handed full control to Davis, who repaid them with a 10--4 season in his first year.
In 1966 he left the Raiders to run the AFL, then deep in its antitrust battle against the older, more established NFL. Davis aggressively raided the NFL talent pool, signing top players to exorbitant contracts. His gambit helped force an agreement that year to merge the two leagues, creating the modern NFL. Davis returned to the Raiders, intent on becoming an owner. He signed on as general manager and received a 10% stake for the bargain price of $18,000. Then, in 1972, he made his big move. While Valley, the more powerful of the two owners, was away at the Munich Olympics, Davis persuaded McGah to sign a contract that gave Davis complete control, though not ownership, of the team, according to Michael Valley, the late Wayne's son. Enraged, Valley sued Davis and lost. In 1976 Valley sold his 15% chunk to Davis, who later upped his share to a current 54%.
cont'd..
Monte Burke 09.18.06
Al Davis created the most successful brand in football by plying maverick methods and embracing an outlaw credo. Today he is better known for suing his fellow NFL owners.
Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, approached the lectern at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio last month in his trademark black suit and silver tie, his slicked-back black hair fully silver at the temples. He was there to induct John Madden, the former head coach and famed NFL analyst as the seventeenth "Raidah," as Davis put it in his Brooklyn accent, to grab football's highest honor, including the owner himself.
In his speech, Davis proudly recalled his club's storied history, like an aged and frail general basking in battles won long ago and unaware of the sad state of his army. For the NFL the moment was both fitting and awkward. Davis is 77 years old now, and he has spent more than half his life--43 years--running the Raiders, building the team into one of the richest franchises in football and creating one of the first antihero, unabashedly outlaw brands. He outfitted his team in black and silver. He signed players with renegade attitudes and nicknames straight out of pro wrestling: Ken (the Snake) Stabler, Jack (the Assassin) Tatum, Ted (the Mad Stork) Hendricks. Raider Nation, a motley band of fans, attended games in black face paint, black cloaks and shoulder spikes. The Raiders consistently led the league in merchandise sales. Oakland street gangs wore Raider jerseys.
And Davis personified his kick-ass team, sporting black sunglasses and the slick black hair and coining phrases like "Commitment to Excellence" and "Just win, baby." From 1963 to 1992 the Raiders posted a 285--146--11 record, the best in all major professional sports. Along the way his teams won three Super Bowls, the last one a generation ago, in 1986. "Davis was the first to realize the importance of branding, that the players are what drove fan attachment," says Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp, which tracks team valuations.
But in recent years the traits--his maverick style and combative fearlessness--that made Davis one of the great visionaries in the National Football League have withered into a crotchety contrariness, hurting the value and profits of his beloved team and giving fits to his fellow owners in the NFL. Like an entrepreneur who refuses to hand over his creation to professional managers, Davis has clung to total control and failed to groom a true successor; instead he spends much of his time in litigation with the league
"Darth Vader is a punk compared to Al Davis," the late writer Hunter S. Thompson once said. Sportscorp's Ganis adds: "His off-the-field disputes have required so much of his attention that the Raiders have missed out on the recent great rise in NFL franchise value." FORBES pegs the Raiders' worth at $736 million this year, 22% below the league average of almost $900 million. In the nine years that FORBES has calculated team valuations, the Raiders' cumulative operating income ($116 million) is 42% below the NFL average of $200 million.
One of Davis' bitterest fights, now under way before the highest court in California, may also be one of his last. He rankled the NFL years ago by arbitrarily moving the Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982, winning court rulings that said the NFL couldn't stop him--then abandoning Los Angeles and moving back to Oakland in 1995. Thus Los Angeles, the second-largest market in the U.S., has been without an NFL team for a decade. If the new commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, can create a team in Tinseltown, his bosses--the owners--could share in a windfall of $800 million or more.
Yet Al Davis insists that he, not the NFL, holds the rights to the city he abandoned so long ago. He has filed suit asserting so, losing at trial. His first appeal was thrown out, and now Davis is pressing his case before the California Supreme Court. "Al is one of the most important people in terms of growth and building the league," says Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. "But no one likes to be sued all the time by their partners. You like to think we're working together to make the league better. What he does is counterproductive. But that just seems to be his personality." Davis declined to be interviewed for this story.
The Brooklyn-bred Davis was an English major at Syracuse University. He had never played a down of pro football, yet he was enthralled by the game. In 1960 he got his first job in the pros as the offensive coach for the Chargers of the old American Football League (then in Los Angeles and since 1961 in San Diego). Three years later Oakland Raiders co-owners Edward McGah and Wayne Valley hired Davis as head coach; he was only 33 years old. The moribund franchise had a record of 9 wins and 33 losses in three years of existence in the AFL. The owners handed full control to Davis, who repaid them with a 10--4 season in his first year.
In 1966 he left the Raiders to run the AFL, then deep in its antitrust battle against the older, more established NFL. Davis aggressively raided the NFL talent pool, signing top players to exorbitant contracts. His gambit helped force an agreement that year to merge the two leagues, creating the modern NFL. Davis returned to the Raiders, intent on becoming an owner. He signed on as general manager and received a 10% stake for the bargain price of $18,000. Then, in 1972, he made his big move. While Valley, the more powerful of the two owners, was away at the Munich Olympics, Davis persuaded McGah to sign a contract that gave Davis complete control, though not ownership, of the team, according to Michael Valley, the late Wayne's son. Enraged, Valley sued Davis and lost. In 1976 Valley sold his 15% chunk to Davis, who later upped his share to a current 54%.
cont'd..
Angry Pope
All Raider
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cont'd...
In the early 1980s Davis decided to move his team from Oakland to the far bigger TV market of Los Angeles. The NFL initially stopped him with a court injunction, but in 1982 Davis won a landmark case against the NFL and the Raiders went Hollywood. Thus team franchises essentially became free agents. Since then teams like the Cleveland Browns, the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Oilers have moved to new cities. A stadium-building boom ensued, helping to raise NFL revenues from $970 million in 1989 to $6.2 billion today.
But as the economics of the NFL changed, Davis didn't adapt--and he failed to cash in on the construction boom he created: The Raiders are one of only six teams that haven't built a new stadium since 1982 (the Giants and the Jets have a new one under way). Most owners, notably those at the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, focused on marketing and building new stadiums and gave their coaches and general managers control over the football side of the business. Davis kept his ironfisted rule, resulting in a high turnover in coaches (nine in 20 years, the most in the NFL) and a mediocre record--168 wins and 167 losses in 20 seasons.
In 1995, realizing the Los Angeles Coliseum lacked pricey luxury boxes, Davis moved his team back to Oakland. Then the lawsuits began in earnest. Davis' suits against the NFL have been all over the place: for breach of contract on a Los Angeles stadium proposal; for allegedly misappropriating funds; to stop expansion teams from using the color black in their uniforms; to get out of revenue-sharing; and for failing to promote the Raiders brand. "In the process he has made himself an island in the ownership ranks," says Ganis of Sportscorp. In 2001 some owners skipped an NFL meeting, fearing Davis would serve them with subpoenas. Others carefully watch what they say around Davis to avoid getting tangled up in another lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Davis made bad moves in Oakland, where the Raiders have one of the worst stadium deals in the NFL. In 1995 he signed a contract with Oakland-Alameda Coliseum that lasts until 2011, giving up the right to sell his own tickets and market the team until this year. The stadium, now known as McAfee Coliseum, "is not the epitome of what an NFL stadium should be," says David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. The team gets less than $11 million a year in premium seating revenue, less than one-third of what teams like the Eagles, Redskins, Patriots and Broncos get. Since 1995 the Raiders' record is 81--95, and 58 of its 88 home games haven't sold out, the second-most in the league, after the Cardinals.
And the outlaw brand that Davis worked so hard to create is now working against him. "Their reputation has compromised their ability to generate cash flow by leasing suites and selling personal seat licenses," says Carter. "The NFL product has changed. It's more corporate and polished. Davis is still operating in the old way." According to Neil Schwartz of SportScaninfo, Raiders apparel sales dropped 25% last year. Meanwhile, owners like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Daniel Snyder of the Washington Redskins, the spiritual heirs of Davis' maverick maneuverings, have surpassed him, generating revenues from stadium deals and advertising to create two of the most valuable franchises in sports.
The lawsuit over who controls Los Angeles may be Davis' last big spat. Davis claims the Raiders earned the rights to Los Angeles by waiving $46 million in settlement payments from a 1982 antitrust trial against the NFL. In 2001 Davis lost the $1.2 billion claim to Los Angeles, but the case was appealed when one of the jurors reportedly said, "I hate the Raiders." That appeal was dismissed, but the California Supreme Court has decided to review the dismissal. The verdict is important to the NFL's future plans. "Anyone who wants to buy or move a franchise to Los Angeles has to include the likely cost of litigation in the overall budget," says Carter, who has consulted for California municipalities on the subject. "It's a huge financial wild card." Some owners see the suit as sour grapes. "He chose to move back to Oakland, so I don't know how he could continue to own the rights [to Los Angeles]," says Lamar Hunt of the Chiefs.
A win for Davis might allow him to retake Los Angeles or raise cash by selling the market rights, and cash is something he needs desperately. Unlike Jones and Snyder, Davis has no outside wealth. Keeping control in his family will be difficult, though according to a 1999 partnership agreement, his wife, Carol, will become the chief executive of the franchise upon his death. It is rumored that Davis has put up a piece of his team for sale but that every time he gets close to a deal, he balks. "He'd have to bring in an equal partner, someone who knows the new NFL, who could market and generate revenues," says Ganis. "But the chances of him doing so are slim. Like many entrepreneurs, he'd have a tough time with this."
The Redskins have not had much success on the gridiron since Daniel Snyder bought the team and its stadium in 1999 for $750 million. But his savvy marketing has made his franchise the most valuable in sports.
Empty Seats
Only 68 NFL games (out of 756) have not sold out during the past three years. The Raiders and Cardinals accounted for 60% of them. Even the addition of superstar receiver Randy Moss last year didn't help the Raiders sell out.
In the early 1980s Davis decided to move his team from Oakland to the far bigger TV market of Los Angeles. The NFL initially stopped him with a court injunction, but in 1982 Davis won a landmark case against the NFL and the Raiders went Hollywood. Thus team franchises essentially became free agents. Since then teams like the Cleveland Browns, the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Oilers have moved to new cities. A stadium-building boom ensued, helping to raise NFL revenues from $970 million in 1989 to $6.2 billion today.
But as the economics of the NFL changed, Davis didn't adapt--and he failed to cash in on the construction boom he created: The Raiders are one of only six teams that haven't built a new stadium since 1982 (the Giants and the Jets have a new one under way). Most owners, notably those at the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, focused on marketing and building new stadiums and gave their coaches and general managers control over the football side of the business. Davis kept his ironfisted rule, resulting in a high turnover in coaches (nine in 20 years, the most in the NFL) and a mediocre record--168 wins and 167 losses in 20 seasons.
In 1995, realizing the Los Angeles Coliseum lacked pricey luxury boxes, Davis moved his team back to Oakland. Then the lawsuits began in earnest. Davis' suits against the NFL have been all over the place: for breach of contract on a Los Angeles stadium proposal; for allegedly misappropriating funds; to stop expansion teams from using the color black in their uniforms; to get out of revenue-sharing; and for failing to promote the Raiders brand. "In the process he has made himself an island in the ownership ranks," says Ganis of Sportscorp. In 2001 some owners skipped an NFL meeting, fearing Davis would serve them with subpoenas. Others carefully watch what they say around Davis to avoid getting tangled up in another lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Davis made bad moves in Oakland, where the Raiders have one of the worst stadium deals in the NFL. In 1995 he signed a contract with Oakland-Alameda Coliseum that lasts until 2011, giving up the right to sell his own tickets and market the team until this year. The stadium, now known as McAfee Coliseum, "is not the epitome of what an NFL stadium should be," says David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. The team gets less than $11 million a year in premium seating revenue, less than one-third of what teams like the Eagles, Redskins, Patriots and Broncos get. Since 1995 the Raiders' record is 81--95, and 58 of its 88 home games haven't sold out, the second-most in the league, after the Cardinals.
And the outlaw brand that Davis worked so hard to create is now working against him. "Their reputation has compromised their ability to generate cash flow by leasing suites and selling personal seat licenses," says Carter. "The NFL product has changed. It's more corporate and polished. Davis is still operating in the old way." According to Neil Schwartz of SportScaninfo, Raiders apparel sales dropped 25% last year. Meanwhile, owners like Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys and Daniel Snyder of the Washington Redskins, the spiritual heirs of Davis' maverick maneuverings, have surpassed him, generating revenues from stadium deals and advertising to create two of the most valuable franchises in sports.
The lawsuit over who controls Los Angeles may be Davis' last big spat. Davis claims the Raiders earned the rights to Los Angeles by waiving $46 million in settlement payments from a 1982 antitrust trial against the NFL. In 2001 Davis lost the $1.2 billion claim to Los Angeles, but the case was appealed when one of the jurors reportedly said, "I hate the Raiders." That appeal was dismissed, but the California Supreme Court has decided to review the dismissal. The verdict is important to the NFL's future plans. "Anyone who wants to buy or move a franchise to Los Angeles has to include the likely cost of litigation in the overall budget," says Carter, who has consulted for California municipalities on the subject. "It's a huge financial wild card." Some owners see the suit as sour grapes. "He chose to move back to Oakland, so I don't know how he could continue to own the rights [to Los Angeles]," says Lamar Hunt of the Chiefs.
A win for Davis might allow him to retake Los Angeles or raise cash by selling the market rights, and cash is something he needs desperately. Unlike Jones and Snyder, Davis has no outside wealth. Keeping control in his family will be difficult, though according to a 1999 partnership agreement, his wife, Carol, will become the chief executive of the franchise upon his death. It is rumored that Davis has put up a piece of his team for sale but that every time he gets close to a deal, he balks. "He'd have to bring in an equal partner, someone who knows the new NFL, who could market and generate revenues," says Ganis. "But the chances of him doing so are slim. Like many entrepreneurs, he'd have a tough time with this."
The Redskins have not had much success on the gridiron since Daniel Snyder bought the team and its stadium in 1999 for $750 million. But his savvy marketing has made his franchise the most valuable in sports.
Empty Seats
Only 68 NFL games (out of 756) have not sold out during the past three years. The Raiders and Cardinals accounted for 60% of them. Even the addition of superstar receiver Randy Moss last year didn't help the Raiders sell out.
Angry Pope
All Raider
- Joined
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Bay Area NFL teams ranked near bottom in value
Both Bay Area pro football teams ranked in the bottom fifth of Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the most valuable National Football League teams.
The Oakland Raiders are estimated to be worth $736 million and ranked 28th, just ahead of the San Francisco 49ers, who are valued at $734 million and ranked 29th.
Rounding out the bottom quintile were the New Orleans Saints (27th, $738 million), San Diego Chargers (30th, $731 million), Atlanta (31st, $730 million) and the Minnesota Vikings (32nd, $720 million).
The most valuable team in the league, according to Forbes, is the Washington Redskins at $1.423 billion, followed by the New England Patriots ($1.176 billion), Dallas Cowboys ($1.173 billion), the Houston Texans (1.143 billion) and Philadelphia Eagles ($1.024 billion).
Both Bay Area pro football teams ranked in the bottom fifth of Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the most valuable National Football League teams.
The Oakland Raiders are estimated to be worth $736 million and ranked 28th, just ahead of the San Francisco 49ers, who are valued at $734 million and ranked 29th.
Rounding out the bottom quintile were the New Orleans Saints (27th, $738 million), San Diego Chargers (30th, $731 million), Atlanta (31st, $730 million) and the Minnesota Vikings (32nd, $720 million).
The most valuable team in the league, according to Forbes, is the Washington Redskins at $1.423 billion, followed by the New England Patriots ($1.176 billion), Dallas Cowboys ($1.173 billion), the Houston Texans (1.143 billion) and Philadelphia Eagles ($1.024 billion).