Super Bowl fever is here [in Philly] because NFL shares [revenues]

The Eagles' hometown is Philadelphia but loyalties in the National Football League are a patchwork. There are Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys fans in these parts too. Some cheer for the Baltimore Ravens while Cheeseheads remain loyal to the Green Bay Packers even in defeat.

The Eagles' hometown is Philadelphia but loyalties in the National Football League are a patchwork. There are Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys fans in these parts too.

I used to have one of each for neighbors. He was for America's Team, she for the Beltway's. But they've moved across the state.

Last weekend, the NFL cliche "on any given day, any team can beat any other team in this league" came true. On Saturday, two underdogs won by big margins. The Atlanta Falcons sent the Packers packing and the New York Jets held the classy Colts scoreless. On Sunday, two teams came from way behind in the fourth quarter to win. The San Francisco 49ers overcame a 24-point deficit to beat the New York Giants, a team on a roll, in the final minutes. The same thing happened in Pittsburgh where the Steelers scored three times in the last quarter to beat the Cleveland Browns.

The sheer joy of the game was evident in all those games. They were as good as they were because of how NFL teams share their revenues. A team like Green Bay can survive in a miniscule television market. And Pittsburgh can be as strong economically as the rival Eagles despite the fact that Philadelphia is the fourth-largest television market in the country. With shared revenues, star players can be found in Kansas City as well as New York.

If major league baseball bought into this approach, its games might be more interesting to more people. Dynasties such as the Yankees make the sport uninteresting to millions who want to cheer for their own teams.

The Eagles are at the top of their game this year. Last year they were almost there. But the winner of last year's Super Bowl, the New England Patriots, didn't make the playoffs. Neither did the team they upset, the St. Louis Rams. The see-saw is exciting.

In the last III Super Bowls, neither team had a winning record the year before.

foreverfree

I can vouch for the fact that here in Philly, Eaglemania is at an absolutely fever pitch. I've never seen anything like it, at least since the Phillies won the World Series in 1980.

I think what set it off was when we lost MVP candidate Donovan McNabb to injury. Everyone counted the Eagles out, but backup QB Koy Detmer came in and obliterated the Niners. Then he went out for the season and the third-stringer, A.J. Feeley, came in and won four straight games (and shouldawouldacoulda won his fifth, but for our Pro-bowl kicker missing a late chip-shot field goal). Every setback the Eagles have faced has made them step up to a higher level.

McNabb comes back tonight. Failure is not an option. We'll see what happens.

The difference between the 2 sports makes them impossible to compare in this way. The NFL TV revenue is 100% from the national TV package. Baseball on the other hand is about 90% local. Baseball does share all of their national TV revenues.

Some teams have marketed themselves very well and put together a TV sports network that carries at least some of their games. A good example is the Red Sox who, along with the Celtics and Bruins, own New England Sports Network.

Likewise teams share the ticket revenue from games. Teams that are attractive or have a big star like Barry Bonds make big bucks compared to their bland counterparts like the Royals.

While the Yankees are the poster child for baseball wealth inequities a quick look shows that the theory that big market teams win more titles in general does not hold water. The Yankees have been to the World Series 11 times in the free agency era. Obviously that is alot. However, the next 7 largest market teams (Mets, Cub, White Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox and Phillies) have been to the WS only 10 times combined! Meanwhile small market teams like Milwuakee, Minnesota, San Diego and Cinncinati have been to the World Series 14 times.

Anyone examining the FACTS in baseball can see that there is much more to winning than buying the best team.

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