2025 NFL offseason thread

Am I remembering correctly that the family had … umm … connections back in Youngstown? The kind that get your ownership application bounced off the tarmac in today’s NFL?

 

They're from Youngstown. Even those who aren't connected are indirectly connected.

 

This was always bitterly denied by Eddie and the rest of his family, and nothing besides rumors ever emerged. I must add, however, that one year before a playoff game I was in the SF Airport Marriott where coincidentally the 49ers were staying. The hotel restaurant was practically deserted, but I saw the DeBartolo clan at a table. At its head was Ed's father, the patriarch. He wore a black suit and was ssipping what looked to be anisette. So tey weren't afraid of stereotyping even if the rumors were bullshit.

 

My wife ran Democratic campaigns in Ohio in the early 2000s. She described fundraising in Youngstown restaurants with men wearing suits right out of a Scorsese movie.

 

Recall that's how Eddie D. got bounced from team leadership, for his activities during the downfall of Edwin Edwards.

 

My favorite Youngstown story is when then-Michigan State assistant Nick Saban was killing time on a recruiting trip by hanging out with Bob Stoops’ namesake uncle. They got so engrossed in talking ball they didn’t notice the bar they were sitting in being robbed.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-stoops-uncle-missed-bar-robbery/10255039002/

 

Does a 10 percent ownership stake mean you get 10 percent of the profits when it's all said and done?
In a business that seems impossible to screw up, in a system set up to guarantee that even the worst teams make money, that wouldn't be a bad deal whether you have a big say or not.

 

I don't know how the profits shake out, but for sure you get 10 percent of the franchise's appreciation in value, which based on past performance is a massive profit all by itself.

 

You wouldn't get that until you sell your stake, though, right?

 

I’d *settle* for 1 percent of the gross on concessions, parking and merchandising.

 

Yes - That's why it's so attractive to both sides, across all sports. If you're an older owner, you basically surrender a small portion of your team without any real power in order to get a large lump sum of cash. Most of the minority owners as of late are "younger" rich people like Tom Brady and hedge funds - entities that have the benefit of time to make-up the initial investment - or people that want to be considered as a proper owner down the road, whether for that team or another one.

 

And was closed/abandoned in 2019.