Is Matt Millen Still With Them?????
Detroit Lions Only NFL Team To Lose Money
Thursday, November 3, 2011 9:12 am
Written by: Ben Maller
Owning a National Football League franchise seems like a license to print money. Before you even play a game, you're all but guaranteed to be in the black.
That was true for 96.8 percent of owners last season. But William Clay Ford Sr., overseer of the Detroit Lions, somehow managed to land in the financial red zone. The Lions were the only one of the 32 NFL franchises to lose money during the 2010 season.
Forbes has handed Ford Sr. the honor of being the worst owner in America's most popular sport. The Lions franchise value has gone down 3 percent during the past five years -- despite a beautiful new home stadium -- and the Lions have won just 23 percent of their games with that 0-16 season thrown in for good measure.
The typical NFL team's total value has grown 8 percent over the last half-decade. The Lions owner beat out the late Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders for the least desirable business honor in the NFL. The Silver & Black had the lowest income in the league last year.
Other lagging pro football owners include Bills boss Ralph Wilson Jr., Browns CEO Randy Lerner and Bengals top guy Mike Brown, all rounding out the worst five owners.
John Mara and Steve Tisch were honored as the best owners in the NFL. They helped the New York Giants franchise value go up a stunning 33 percent over the past five years, best in the league. Mara and Tisch edged out the Patriots' Robert Kraft. New England made the second-most money in the league last season: $93 million from ticket revenue.
The Colts' Jim Irsay, Packers shareholders and Cowboys lightning rod Jerry Jones round out the top five owners in the league.
