With the impending NFL lockout, what are us Fantasy Football addicts to do? Well, I think I have the most complex, yet amazing idea to cure our football and fantasy football withdrawals.
No other football league aside from NFL and NCAA have succeeded because they have never been able to capture an audience for the long term. Vince McMahon made a valiant effort years back with his outlandish rules and WWF marketing techniques when forming the XFL, but the league quickly fizzled.
So, what would it take to be able to successfully capture an audience for the long term? It’s easy! Give them a voice, give them power and give them money. I’ll explain.....
All the teams in this new league will not be owned by majority owners like Al Davis, Jerry Jones, Mark Cuban and Dan Snyder, but will instead be owned by their very own fans. Any tax paying citizen can register with the league as an owner of a team. Each individual will be granted one share of the team. Shares can NOT be sold or transferred to another party. This share gives them all the rights of a minority owner.
Attractive owner rights:
1. An equal shares vote to select coaches
This gives the fans of the team the opportunity to hire the head coach of their team on 2 year contract terms. Are you a Pittsburgh native and will most likely go after defensive minded coaches, or do you take the New Orleans philosophy and target a high powered offense. It’s your call as an owner to set the strategy of the team from the ground up.
2. Voice in draft pick selection -
Are you always flustered at your teams draft pick selection? Well, that no longer has to be the case, as owners have an equal shares vote on who to go after in certain rounds of the draft, designated as “public ownership rounds.” Every other round, starting with round 1 will be a public ownership round. If you feel your team has a gaping hole at WR, go after that local stud from UCLA, if your DB’s got lit up the past season, target a shutdown corner. Want to add a bigger name and attract a marketing buzz... go for it! The other rounds’ picks are selected by the Board Members and Coaches, who have in turn, also been selected by the owners / public fans.
3. Trade approval / declination vote
Trades must be approved by the public. All trades will take place during the off season and the public has an opportunity to put together presentations for various trade proposals and present them to the Coaches and Executives during a set time period.
4. Voice in who to go after in free agency
How do you want to handle your teams salary cap? Who do you want to go after in free agency? Do you want to add veteran leadership, or do you want to add youth. It’s up to the owners.
5. Revenue sharing
The Washington Redskins alone had operating income of 90 million in 2008. The NFL League revenue was 7.8 BILLION in 2010. By having revenue sharing, it creates an incentive to treat your team like a business and not only have fun running and watching it, but to also always be adding value and acting in the best interest of the team. Would you be offering Pujols that 10 year, 300 million? Or would that be too detrimental to the long term financial success of the team? Remember now, the more successful the team is, the more money you can put back in your wallet.
6. Vote in the board members and Executives
These board members and Executives will serve on a term by term basis and will hand the day to day decisions and overall operations of the team.
7. Year round football
Let’s be honest, who is frustrated right now that there is no football on TV. It stinks! By having the league’s season in March - July, you not only avoid bad weather, but you don’t have to compete with the NCAA or NFL. It also allows your to allocate 100% of your sports passion to your respective professional and collegiate football teams during their in-season. Consider this as more than a supplement, but definitely not a replacement.
8. Place teams in cities without football
The Hollywood Stars, Las Vegas Sin, Portland Vampires, and the Austin Outlaws are just a few location and name ideas for expansion teams. Oh yeah, and guess who gets to design the logo and create and vote on new uniform designs an an annual basis.. the owners / fans.
The cost of broadcasting the games can be greatly reduced by providing live coverage on all games through the Internet, and Internet tv devices. With Internet access on the TV becoming more mainstream through video game consoles, blu-ray players, Google TV, Apple TV, and new TV’s that support apps, it will be very easy and cost effective to broadcast through the Internet. This also allows for greater access to any consumer, even on the global level. Of course, this league WILL need it’s own Red Zone Channel, much like Directv’s Red Zone Channel. (Anyone who hasn’t watched Andrew Siciliano work his magic on Football Sunday’s, hasn’t lived life!)
Job creation opportunities are limitless. Newly created positions like: Senior Trade Consultant and Regional Talent Scout would arise.
While I know this idea is VERY far fetched, just think of this: The NFL is only as strong as it’s fans. It’s the fans that create the supply and demand for the products that are put in front of them. A financially motivated fan could be a dangerous thing. Of course I know that this league would by no means initially attempt to compete against the NFL. The NFL brand is arguably the strongest American brand. This would be a great supplement to the NFL.
**** I do want to give some credit to Chris Gray on this idea as he and I were brainstorming one drunken evening
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