Maybe this was inevitable, but the news today that the NFL plans to cut jobs struck me like an announcement that the Middle East had suddenly run out of oil. Don't they print money at the NFL offices, for crying out loud?
Below are the first few grafs from the Associated Press story:
NEW YORK (AP) — The recession has hit the NFL.
The league said Tuesday it is cutting more than 10 percent of its headquarters staff in response to the downturn in the nation's economy.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the cuts in a memo to league employees. The NFL is eliminating about 150 of its staff of 1,100 in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey and television and Internet production facilities in Los Angeles.
"These are difficult and painful steps," Goodell wrote in the memo. "But they are necessary in the current economic environment. I would like to be able to report that we are immune to the troubles around us, but we are not. Properly managed, I am confident the NFL will emerge stronger, more efficient and poised to pursue long-term growth opportunities."
The natural reaction is to say that the NFL is using the slumping economy as an excuse to trim some fat and funnel bonus money to a small circle of top executives that includes Goodell. But that might not be the case. The league reported revenues last season of $7 billion, but its margins reportedly have always been fairly thin.
Attendance is down slightly this season and it's possible the NFL is bracing for a backlash from corporate sponsors who might be forced to trim their spending next year if the economy continues to sag. Or maybe the league figures fans squeezed by frozen wages will have to choose between season tickets and that new authentic Chad Pennington jersey.
It's tempting to say that if the NFL is short on cash, it could start by ending the wasted resources spent on harassing and fining its players for un-penalized hits. Or maybe Goodell could make the rounds to NFL cities in a Prius instead of a private jet.
Or it could finally be the right time to contract the Lions.
-- John Dudley