The success of the NFL's expansion teams is analyzed in
many media markets as the Panthers and Jaguars get set to
play in their conference championship game. With each
team's early success, many examine the NFL's expansion
policy, which allowed for additional draft picks, an
expansion draft, a full salary cap, and the advent of total
free agency. The WALL STREET JOURNAL John Helyar writes
it's "clear that these aren't your father's expansion teams,
and it's equally clear why. There are both symbols and
beneficiaries of a sea change in professional football's
economics and dynamics, which in three years has stood the
NFL on its helmeted head." In a "tradeoff for the high cost
of expansion," a $140M fee, the owners got "quick parity."
But with free agency, escalating player costs and a salary
cap, the "new NFL teams may be doing the rest of the league
a favor: showing how to operate in this new environment"
(WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/10).
MORE REAX: In New York, Richard Sandomir compares the
"playing field" for expansion in the four major leagues,
adding the NFL "sought to give the teams a chance to
compete, not a guarantee of ignominy" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/10).
In S.F., Glenn Dickey notes that "complaints" about the NFL
expansion guidelines "ignore the economic realities." The
clubs paid a "very high" admission fee and they "had a right
to be given a chance to be competitive quickly." Also,
"fans' patience is not what it used to be" (S.F. CHRONICLE,
1/10). In Baltimore, Vito Stellino writes what NFL
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue "didn't anticipate was how much
free agency would level the playing field, sapping the
strength of good teams who lost key players" (Baltimore SUN,
1/10). One anonymous NFL owner said there are "two levels
of thought working among a lot of teams. On the one hand,
people are saying, 'If they can get to within a game of the
Super Bowl in just two years, what the heck is wrong with
us?' And then you've got some owners who are wondering if
they did the right thing by granting so many concessions to
the expansion teams" (Frank Fitzpatrick, PHILADELPHIA DAILY
NEWS, 1/9). But in a letter to NFL Commissioner Tagliabue,
Chief Chair Lamar Hunt gives kudos to expansion:
"Congratulations to you and all the league office staff who
developed and implemented the most successful expansion
program ever done by a pro sports league. The success of
the Panthers and Jaguars and the freshness and new look that
they have given the NFL are the best thing that has happened
to the league in a long time!" (NFL). 49ers President
Carmen Policy: "We probably went too far, giving them a full
cap. But, hey, better to go that far than to be too stingy"
(Gordon Forbes, USA TODAY, 1/9). USA TODAY's Erik Brady
profiles the success of the expansion teams and previews the
conference championships on a front-page cover story: "We've
seen impossible dreams in sports before, but never this fast
-- and never two at the same time" (USA TODAY, 1/10). In
Atlanta, Mark Bradley: "I want the Falcons to leave. I want
one of those expansion teams" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/9).
GOODELL ON CNBC: NFL's Senior VP Roger Goodell, Jaguars
Chair & CEO Wayne Weaver and Jacksonville Economic
Development Commission Chair Tom Petway were among guests
interviewed on CNBC's "Business Insiders." Goodell, on if
the success of the Jaguars and Panthers would lead to more
expansion: "I don't think at this point we're ready to
expand any further. ... We want to obviously approach any
future expansion of the league very cautiously to make sure
we achieve the same success we've achieved with these last
two franchises." Petway, on the economic benefits of the
Jaguars: "We will have a lot of people like the NFL, a lot
of corporate citizens in America, looking to come to
Jacksonville, because it is a great place to work and play,
and the Jaguars certainly have added to those quality of
life issues" ("Business Insiders," CNBC, 1/9).
