Hulk Hogan died this week at the age of 71; the cause of death was reported as cardiac arrest. For about 20 years, he was the face of professional wrestling in the US; it was at the beginning of his ascendancy to that status that I lost interest in “rassling so I have no vivid memories related to his in-ring exploits. However, he maintained sufficient celebrity cred to be a recognizable figure for almost 50 years.
I had one chance encounter with Hulk Hogan. Back when I and a group of friends took our annual pilgrimage to Las Vegas, we happened to be there on the same weekend as a ‘rassling spectacular. It was late on Friday night – – at least midnite and probably closer to 1:00 AM – – when I was at a blackjack table in the now defunct Imperial Palace casino. Hulk Hogan walked in with two bodyguards; Hogan was a large individual; both bodyguards were even larger. He walked right by my blackjack table, and I could have reached out and touched him – – but the presence of those two bodyguards convinced me not to do that.
Rest in peace, Hulk Hogan.
Moving on … When it comes to the major sports in the US, the books are closed, and the IRS does not reveal the filings of the various teams demonstrating the degree of profit/loss or the major contributors to the profit or loss status. There is one exception, however, in the NFL and that is the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are a publicly owned team and as a publicly owned team, they are required to open their books the same way that Microsoft or Apple or Exxon or General Forge and Foundry [Hat Tip to Kurt Vonnegut] are required to do so.
Since the NFL shares “national revenues” – – mainly revenue from network TV rights – – you can take the Packers’ reporting and do some math and arrive at the league’s national revenue as a whole. The teams just received a payment from the league office for $432.6M as their share of national revenues for fiscal year 2024. Since there are 32 teams, that means the national revenues for last fiscal year were at least $13.84B.
- [Aside: I say “at least” here because I do not know if the teams get all the revenue distributed and then cough up some of it to keep the Front Office afloat or if the Front Office takes a piece off the top.]
“National revenues” are the driver for the calculation of the salary cap; the players will share a little less than half of those revenues with the owners as their salaries and bonuses are prescribed in their contracts. “National revenues” do not include local incomes like tickets sold or radio broadcast rights for games or parking or a share of the concessions revenue or stadium naming rights with a local credit union or – – you get the idea.
The NFL salary cap for 2024 was $255.4M. So, let’s do a little estimating:
- Team expenses = Players’ salaries + Coaches’ salaries + staff salaries + facilities costs + Travel
- Total revenue = National revenue + Local revenue.
We don’t know all the entries in those equations above, but we do know that national revenues minus player salaries are about $177M We also know from the Packers’ public accounting that the Packers showed a profit of $83.7M. So, it would appear from those numbers that the Packers’ “local revenues” covered all the expenses save for the players’ salaries and the difference between the national revenues and the players’ salaries approximates the net profit for the squad.
Obviously, local revenues and team expenses vary from team to team, but this reporting opens the door just a crack into the workings of NFL team finances. The bottom line here is that it would take a calamitous set of events for an NFL team to lose money from franchise operations in a given fiscal year.
Next up … The Baltimore Orioles may be the most disappointing team in MLB this year given the expectations that their young players would all improve this year, and the team would be a serious threat come playoff time. Not happening! The O’s are dead last in the AL East and their record resembles that of the A’s and/or the White Sox more closely than it does the records of the Jays or the Tigers or the Astros. Nevertheless, Orioles fans can still enjoy a culinary monstrosity at Camden Yards to take their mind off the play on the field. Here is the Warehouse Burger:
- Two beef patties – – 1/3 pound each
- Queso
- Pico de gallo
- Fried onions
- Pretzel bun.
That sounds as if it would take two beers to wash it down.
Finally, I’ll close the week with this from the “Bard of Baltimore” – – my favorite curmudgeon – – H. L. Mencken:
“Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………