Mike is setting everyone up for heartache

[Whatever]

(03-28-2017, 02:40 PM)OrlandoBengal Wrote: You're not taking into account that the value of his asset would rise with ownership of a new stadium, there would be no lease payments to be made, and he would have revenue from other events held throughout the year.  As a business owner, he would have the ability to build his stadium anywhere the NFL would allow it (he is actually a franchisee of the league).  NFL teams everywhere have trouble selling out their stadiums, which is why the bulk of their revenue comes from the television contracts. 

I strongly disagree about this team's ability to sell out in other markets.  The organization has put an "above average product" on the field for the last seven years, but as Shake pointed out above you really need to look at the history of this team, specifically Mike Brown, and the relationship with the community.  Very little is done, or has been done, to build bridges.  Then take into account the history of absolute futility that this team owns.  I feel like this team "gets" quite well for what they give.

Owning his own stadium would increase the club's value, but if the league loses years to a strike or the tv bubble bursts, he could find himself upside down on his stadium loan and forced to sell the team, especially with the league instituting minimum spending requirements on player salaries.

The Rams were bottom 4 in the league in attendance for years before they moved to LA, and were 2nd in home attendance last year.  Anybody that doesn't think the Bengals wouldn't sell out or at least see a big attendance increase if they moved is fooling themselves.  2005 is the closest the Bengals have come to even sniffing the top 10 in attendance, and even then, they were in the bottom half of the league at 19th.  In the Dalton era, the highest they've gotten is 23.  It's been proven over and over again with moves and expansion teams that if you bring NFL football to a starved market, you will move tickets and merchandise for a few years whether you put a good team on the field or not.

Plus, we can all gripe about the various reasons we don't want to spend money on the Bengals, but those excuses don't exist in a new market.  If the Bengals moved to San Antonio, the fans there don't care if the team hasn't won a playoff game in forever.  They care about what they do there.  Similarly, they aren't going to complain about retired numbers or a Ring of Honor or whatever for players who never played there.  If they make they playoffs for six of the first eight years, they aren't going to be screaming for Brown to hire a GM because he has 15 years straight of losing seasons he needs to atone for.  They aren't going to be saying he needs to build an indoor practice facility because they probably built him one as part their bid for the team. 

People seriously need to stop looking at the situation from the perspective of how they think things should be and start looking at things as how they actually are.  There's lots of fans in Cleveland, Oakland, St.Louis, and San Diego that did the former.