Success comes at a price in Foxborough
Unless your business truly is football, winning in pro football is not good business. The Patriots will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years and the third time in the past eight. It is a level of achievement unrivaled by all but a few of Bob Kraft's peers since the dawning of the salary cap era and the accounting nightmares that has created.
Yet as successful as the Patriots have been, every time they make it to the championship game, it costs the Kraft family money, which is what makes the business of pro football unique.
Generally, being at the top of your profession translates into being at the top of the profit margin. That is the very purpose of business. Except in pro football. The way the NFL is set up, each team shares equally in postseason profits, an extension of the socialist system that has helped make pro football the most successful and competitive game in the world. That means a team such as the Cincinnati Bengals, which has been the losingest franchise in the league for more than a decade, actually makes more money for not being successful in the playoffs than Kraft's team will make for being a regular visitor to the Super Bowl over the last decade.
In reality, owners such as the Bengals' Mike Brown or the Cardinals' Bill Bidwill have become highly successful businessmen in the pro football world as long as you don't consider winning part of their business. They have long run their operations on the cheap while cashing playoff revenue checks as large as those of teams like the Patriots.
"In terms of dollars and cents, the act of going to the Super Bowl does cost you money," said Kraft's son and confidant, Jonathan. "In the NBA and the NHL, teams that reach the playoffs keep a significant portion of that revenue. In our league, that revenue is shared between all 32 teams after [playoff] expenses. If your team goes to the Super Bowl, you get the equivalent of 100 first-class plane tickets and a number of hotel rooms, but you have to absorb the rest of the costs.
"There are no comp tickets, so the teams in the game have to buy their allotment. But, under the collective bargaining agreement, each player and coach is entitled to two free tickets. Right there you're talking about a team expense of around $100,000. And that's a small item."
The Patriots will employ six 767s to fly their entire group of players, coaches, sponsors, family, friends, and associates to Houston. There will be the added cost in some cases of tickets, hotel rooms, and other expenses. In addition, there are the hidden costs of bonuses earned by some coaches and players for reaching the Super Bowl. It is believed, for example, that coach Bill Belichick earned a $1 million bonus for reaching the Super Bowl this year, although that is unconfirmed.
Going to the Super Bowl does not boost revenue in the short term. All Patriots season tickets are sold, and there is a waiting list in excess of 50,000. You can sell only so many extra T-shirts, jackets, and Belichick bobbleheads, yet significant additional costs accrue with winning. But unlike some owners, the Kraft family seems happy to pay them.
"The actual act of going to the Super Bowl is a net dollar loser," said Jonathan Kraft, "but there's a psychic value that you can't put a dollar figure on that comes with winning championships. For us, the most important factor is the intrinsic value of winning. Our family and this franchise is in football to win championships. In most businesses, including our other ones, it's to maximize the amount of money you make.
"Going forward, we believe winning adds to the luster of the franchise.
"We don't expect people to understand going to the Super Bowl is not a money-maker. It's natural for the public to assume otherwise and we hope to be in the position for them to make those assumptions about us many more times. We don't think it's important to hammer home the message that next week won't directly make money. This is about the intangible value of winning."
From the moment the Krafts purchased the Patriots, they had two dreams: to build a state-of-the-art stadium and to win a Super Bowl. They now have done both at considerable cost and are in position to do the latter again. They have understood that while there is a cost to going to the Super Bowl that cannot be recouped in the short term, there is also a reward.
"It helps people to commit to the team because there was always so much instability around the franchise in the past, mostly because of finances," Kraft said. "Reaching the Super Bowl, and hopefully winning it next week, creates equity with your season ticket-holders and all of your fans. Winning a championship may cost you some money but it adds value over the long term."
Red alert
The Patriots go into the Super Bowl with the second-worst red zone offense in the AFC, scoring touchdowns on just 22 of 50 possessions. But the Panthers were worse, scoring touchdowns only 18 times in 43 trips . . . The dormant Patriots running game may be coming around the same way it did two Super Bowls ago, in part because of the power running of Antowain Smith. In their last four games, the Patriots have averaged 118 yards a game on the ground, nearly 4 yards a carry . . . The Eagles have won more games over the past three seasons than any other team in football but three straight times lost in the NFC Championship game. That has cost them a trip to the Super Bowl as well as much hometown support. The morning after the Eagles lost to Carolina, Philadelphia sports radio station WIP was jammed with callers demanding the heads of quarterback Donovan McNabb, coach Andy Reid, club president Joe Banner, and owner Jeffrey Lurie, even though it was those four who turned the Eagles into the winningest team in football. Now, it is true that the Eagles have scored only one touchdown in each of the last two NFC Championship games, but to brutalize the architects of their success is absurd. The lack of playoff scoring punch has led Reid to contemplate bringing in more firepower, and that could include 49ers wide receiver Terrell Owens, who last week said he would like to join the Eagles. One rumor is that the 49ers will trade Owens to the Eagles for a No. 1 draft pick before the draft rather than risk losing him for nothing in free agency this spring, but that is a complicated proposition. First, the Eagles would have to work out a long-term deal with Owens, who is probably aching to find out what his value is on the open market and thus would drive a hard bargain. Then again, considering how badly the Eagles receivers played in the NFC title game loss to the Panthers, most any price would be a bargain . . . Several starting quarterbacks are facing potentially stern challenges next summer. In Tampa Bay, the Bucs have made it clear they are unhappy with the play of Brad Johnson and intend to throw the job open this spring with Johnson battling either Jacksonville's Mark Brunell or Oakland's Rich Gannon, if the Bucs can acquire either. Both are likely to be on the open market for salary cap and age reasons. Gannon in particular seems sure to be released. But the Buccaneers cannot simply cut Johnson to make room for one of them because that would result in a $7 million salary cap hit . . . Another quarterback on the hot seat will be Cincinnati's Jon Kitna. Although Kitna was, in many people's eyes, the comeback player of the year, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is ready to challenge him with young Carson Palmer because he believes Palmer has much more upside.
Eagle to Cardinal
Old friend Mike Kruczek, the ex-Boston College quarterback, has been named quarterbacks coach of the Arizona Cardinals by coach Dennis Green. Kruczek twice won Super Bowl rings in Pittsburgh before moving into coaching for the past two decades. Kruczek coached at Central Florida for 19 years before coming to the NFL this past week . . . Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray will work out for the Dolphins in Miami Tuesday. So desperate are the Dolphins to find a replacement for Jay Fiedler that they are wasting no time on the Canadian Football League's top young quarterback. Ray led the Eskimos to the Grey Cup championship last season. Such workouts are nothing new to Ray. He worked out in front of 14 NFL scouts and personnel men Dec. 14 at the facility of the Denver Broncos and was impressive, so the Dolphins won't be alone once the bidding starts for his services . . . Not long after interviewing for what now appears to have been a non-opening as Dolphins general manager, Atlanta assistant general manager Tim Ruskell broke his leg while watching a Senior Bowl workout last week. A player ran into him on the sideline during practice . . . Judging by the results of two computerized mockups of the Patriots and Panthers game Sunday, anything is possible. One conducted by WhatIfSports.com had the Panthers winning, 17-13, with Adam Vinatieri missing two field goal attempts. Conversely, Madden NFL 2004 played a simulated game and New England came out the winner, 23-20 . . . Cowboys coach Bill Parcells is rumored to be in the market for a new running back, with the Bengals' Corey Dillon high on his list. Dillon remains unhappy in Cincinnati, and the Bengals have grown weary of his constant complaining . . . Look for the Browns to hire ex-Packers general manager Ron Wolf as a full-time consultant next week. Wolf told the Dolphins he did not want to go back to work full-time when they were pursuing him to become general manager, but he was quickly wooed by the Browns and is interested in returning to pro football in some capacity. Wolf has been retired for several years but last season regularly flew from his Maryland home to Dallas to help out old friend Parcells . . . Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe said he is excited about the hiring of Mike Mularkey as the team's coach but he is just as happy with Mularkey's importing of ex-Giants coach Jim McNally to direct the Bills' suspect offensive line. McNally is considered to be among the best in the NFL, and Bledsoe sees that as a welcome change after being sacked an average of 51 times over his last four seasons as an NFL starter. Bledsoe admitted to the Buffalo media last week that he has continued to brood over his disappointing season even though he normally retreats to Montana and forgets about football. "This one really has been eating at me," Bledsoe said. "I'm just so ticked off at the way the year went. I find myself out here in Montana when I have a few spare minutes or when I'm lying in bed at night and I find myself thinking about football." Bledsoe should be aided by new quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, as well, but his biggest asset may be the departure of offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. Together they fed each other's worst instincts. Mularkey has promised to change the offense into a more run-oriented attack with a ball-control outlook.
He said, he said
The last head coaching vacancy is in Oakland, which seems to be having trouble finding someone to take the job. However, owner Al Davis did not offer the job to Cowboys assistant head coach Sean Payton. Davis was so upset about reports out of Dallas that Payton had turned down an offer that he came out into the daylight Wednesday for an unusual State of the Al address with the media, saying the report "couldn't be true because Sean Payton has never been offered the job." Davis is a lot of things but he is not a liar. Payton certainly may believe differently and indeed told friends in Dallas and in football that he had turned down an offer because it lacked money and authority. But Davis firmly believes he didn't offer Payton the job even though he did bring him back for a second interview. In this case, I'll side with Davis. He did indeed have his minions talk with agent Donald Yee about the parameters of a contract with Payton, but when he did, the 40-year-old assistant coach appeared to break out in prickly heat and turned the job down before any deal was done. Payton wanted a four-year deal; the Raiders wanted to give him less. He wanted more authority over personnel; Davis wanted him to understand "I am the organization." In the end, it didn't work out and nothing came close to being agreed to. That means Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis may still be alive in the process. Weis would be a good addition to the Raiders organization and his experience working with the often overbearing Parcells would be good training for dealing with Davis . . . Here is how difficult it is to play quarterback in the NFL. The interception young Matt Hasselbeck threw to Green Bay's Al Harris in overtime that cost the Seahawks a chance to advance in the playoffs had nothing to do with Hasselbeck making a bad throw or a bad read. Green Bay blitzed, and Seattle's fourth receiver was supposed to break off his pattern if he saw a blitz coming. He saw the blitz but was unsure how to respond and continued on his original route while Hasselbeck launched the ball to the spot he should have gone to. Perfect read, perfect throw, perfect interception return for a winning touchdown, perfectly long offseason for poor Hasselbeck. If fans knew how many games come down to a mistake rather than a great play, they'd have more sympathy for guys like Hasselbeck, who deserved no heat but got it anyway because he was unable to curb his enthusiasm during the overtime coin flip when after calling it, he said, "We'll take the ball and we're going to score." What was he supposed to say, "We'll take the ball and we're going to punt"?
Material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report. 