Cardinal red
Kurt Badenhausen, 09.20.04
Clearing profit in the NFL is as easy as falling forward, thanks to a $2.6-billion-a-year TV contract that is split evenly among all 32 teams and a cap that limits player salaries to 65% of revenues. Last season the average NFL team earned a profit (before depreciation, interest and taxes) of $26.6 million. But the Arizona Cardinals last year ran a loss of $4.9 million, the first for any team in the past three seasons. Owner William Bidwill, whose father, Charles, bought the franchise for $50,000 in 1932, has proven that if you field a poor team and have a lousy stadium deal, you can lose money. The Cardinals have won just one playoff game in 50 years. Since 1985 they have had only one season with a winning record. Last year the team won only 4 games out of 16. Attendance last year at the 8 games played at home in Tempe, Ariz. totaled 288,000, or 140,000 fewer than for the next-lowest team. Most Sundays a third of the seats are empty. Bidwill has had four different head coaches in ten years. That kind of turmoil makes it difficult to draw and retain star players. When Bidwill moved the Cards from St. Louis to Arizona State University's football stadium in 1988, he got what was at the time a good lease.
But stadium economics have changed rapidly in the NFL over the past decade, and now the Cardinals have one of the worst leases in the league. They are forced to share stadium revenues from parking and concessions with the college; most NFL teams pocket millions of dollars more than the Cardinals. They pulled in just $3 million in suite revenue last year, while other teams average four times as much. All told the Cardinals took in $130 million last season, $36 million less than the NFL average. Bidwill's birds, though they are the lowest-value team in the NFL, still are worth, we calculate, $552 million to a buyer who knows what to do with the assets. Profits should improve: The taxpayers of Arizona have generously agreed to build a new cash-spewing stadium in Glendale for the 2006 season.
Also isn't there still one major FA signing time after June 1? Can any of you Gentlemen tell if the Cards[meaning DG] signed anyone last year after june 1st? I agree that a veteran KR would be a major boost what with all the youngsters we had this past weekend at WR..GOCARDS!!! 
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