Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How the NFL Became the Most Successful Sports League in History

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The NFL is the most successful professional sport. The league's secret to success is sound business practices like revenue sharing and a salary cap. These policies have created parity on the field and in the boardroom. Because of the collective approach of the league, a small-town team like the Green Bay Packers has just as much chance of getting into the playoffs--and succeeding financially--as big-market teams in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. But in 2006, a faction of entrepreneurial owners led by maverick Washington Redskins executive Dan Synder proposed changes to the league finance and revenue models that many fear will upset this near-perfect system. They are creating alternative revenue sources, such as stadium-naming rights, local sponsorships, radio and television deals, pre-game and post-game clubs. These owners are arguing that revenue they generate locally--outside of the normal NFL model--should be theirs to keep. Other owners worry this would dash the league's parity like Major League Baseball, where big-market teams like the New York Yankees flourish and small-market teams like the Milwaukee Brewers flounder.

This critical battle for the future of America's most popular sport has opened a wide rift between owners. "Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps "offers an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the league and examines the maverick owners whose ideas could have lasting repercussions for the players, owners, coaches, and ultimately the fans.