Sep 27, 2023
Football Done Right, History of the NFL with Ex GM Mike Lombardi + Rick Horrow on Stadiums
- AZ TRT S04 EP38 (201) 9-24-2023
What We Learned This Week
· You don’t work in the NFL. You live in the NFL. – Al Davis, Raiders Owner
- White Oaks of Football – 5 Coaches who revolutionized how the game is played
- Paul Brown’s Operating System – responsible for so many of the ways football teams are run, from headsets, to play calling & playbooks, to scouting systems
- West Coast Bill Walsh – created an offensive philosophy by passing early to get the lead, and running late to keep the lead
- Pete Rozelle (former NFL Commissioner) propelled football into the #1 sport thru Television, starting with Monday Night Football in 1970
- Scouting for players is about elimination, never about finding. Need a Profile to know what you are looking for.
Guest:
Michael Lombardi is a former general manager and three-time Super Bowl-winning executive, having spent thirty-five years working for the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders, and the Cleveland Browns, and has the distinction of the being the only person to make it to the Super Bowl with legends Bill Walsh, Al Davis, and Bill Belichick in a single career. He is the best-selling author of Gridiron Genius and appears on the top-ten sports podcast GM Shuffle in addition to hosting the daily show The Lombardi Line on the VSIN podcast network. He has appeared as a draft analyst and on-air talent for CBS Sports, Showtime, and the NFL Network, among others. He has written extensively for numerous print and digital media platforms, including NFL.com and Sports Illustrated.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT: Setting the Record Straight on the Coaches, Players, and History of the NFL
By Michael
Lombardi
“A master class in the history, philosophy, and art of football from a man who has seen it all.”
—Bill Belichick, Head Coach of the New England Patriots
From “Monday Night Football” to Super Bowl Sunday, the NFL is a dominating force in the lives of millions of fans who tune in and passionately cheer for their favorite teams. And when the games are over, the conversation is just getting started. Who's the greatest player of all time? Which coaches truly shaped the game we know and love today? What was the most unforgettable game? Why is professional football such an undeniable part of our culture?
In FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT: Setting the Record Straight on the Coaches, Players, and History of the NFL (Running Press, September 5, 2023) former NFL general manager and three-time Super Bowl winner Michael Lombardi sets the record straight on these questions and more, taking readers on the ultimate journey through the NFL's history to present his calls on the greatest players and coaches the sport has ever seen. Lombardi has done it all—from scout to executive to coach—and with FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT, he tackles all aspects of the sport, channeling his 35+ years of experience with the NFL into an all-encompassing celebration of the game.
Through his incisive analysis, first-person experience, and hard stats, Lombardi makes a definitive case for the most influential coaches and best players, while also honoring the many change makers, trade negotiators, and sportscasters who played an essential role in popularizing the game that we recognize today. Both a full history of the sport and a comprehensive re-imagining of the Football Hall of Fame to honor every deserving athlete and coach, FOOTBALL DONE RIGHT will change the way you watch, discuss, and debate the gridiron.
“The stories in Football Done Right reveal who made the NFL into the greatest league on Earth. Michael Lombardi has had success at every level of the league and this love letter to the game is a must read.”
—Pat McAfee, Host of The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN and Former NFL Player
“For the past 40 years, Michael Lombardi has had a front row seat to football history, working for and advising legendary men such as Bill Walsh, Al Davis and Bill Belichick. Now he has packaged all the greatness he observed into this gift of a book.”
—Adam Schefter, ESPN Senior NFL Insider
Notes:
Seg 2
‘You don’t work in the NFL. You live in the NFL.’ – Al Davis, Raiders Owner
‘You can’t connect the dots looking forwards…but backwards.’ – Steve Jobs, Apple
‘There is winning, and there is misery.’ – Coach Bill Parcells
Canton, Ohio – the NFL is formed in 1920 with 11 teams
Mike Lombardi worked in the NFL 20+ years. He worked with some of the NFL grades like Bill Walsh, Al Davis and Bill Belichick. He agrees with Al Davis that you definitely live in the NFL. It is dark when you go to work and it is dark when you get home.
NFL started in 1920, but it wasn’t until the late 1950s that it was on TV and started to become a very popular national game. From the 1920s to the 1950s college was more popular than the NFL. People knew their college teams and football was more of a regional sport.
The Five White Oaks of the NFL
These are 5 coaches that Mike has identified that helped to modernize the game. The white oak phrase comes from the movie The Shawshank Redemption. The tree is a symbol of redemption with the deepest branches, like a coaching tree in the NFL.
Red Blaik and the Lonely End
Coach Red Blaik coached at Dartmouth in the Ivy League and then Army.
He is known for the lonely end, or spreading out the wide receivers and using the whole field to play. He coached in the 1940s in the 1950s.
He had 2 very famous assistants at Army - Tom Landry coaching the Defense and Vince Lombardi coaching the offense. Landry went on to coach the Cowboys and Lombardi went on to coach the Green Bay Packers. Both won Super Bowls and are in the Hall of Fame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Blaik
https://goldenrankings.com/footballshortstoryLonelyEnd.htm
Clark Shaughnessy and the T Formation
He coached in the 1940s through the 1960s and is known for modernizing the single wing formation and how players lineup in formations. He created the first real modern passing formations with an emphasis on the quarterback, not the running back being the most important player.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Shaughnessy
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-25-sp-7207-story.html
Paul Brown’s Operating System
Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns, and later the Cincinnati Bengals
He created the operating system and really turned coaching into a profession with specialties. He taught a culture of leadership and instruction.
His most famous assistant was Bill Walsh who will go on to the Hall of Fame as the coach of the 49ers and creator of the West Coast offense which was started under Brown with the Bengals
So many of the modern things we see with football were created by Paul Brown - like the headset for the coaches to call in the play to the quarterback, how play-calling was done and the playbook. He also organized the system for scouting, how you pick players, 40 yard dash and how to profile players.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Brown
https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/technology/technology-and-the-game/
Seg 3
Coaches continued
Sid Gilman and the Long Ball
Sid Gilman was an assistant with Red Blaik
Worked with Fanatical Francis Schmidt of Ohio State wanted to pass all the time, but not accepted in Ohio
Developed numerical passing game, passing and play design
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Gillman
https://www.footballxos.com/sid-gillman-need-know-man-throw-forward-pass/
West Coast Bill Walsh
West coast offense was a philosophy based on ball control offense
Pass the ball early to score, run the ball later to keep the lead
Y motion passing game, QB footwork, and timing of routes
Script plays to start game
Horizontal passing game, the nickel and dime pass with high percentage throws to get the ball to the receiver in space, so then they can run after the catch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Walsh_(American_football_coach)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_offense
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1087386-football-101-breaking-down-the-west-coast-offense
TV & the Power of the Brand of the NFL
TV in the 1970s, there were 3 channels. The NFL Commissioner, Pete wanted to get one national game airing weekly. He contacted all three networks and eventually struck a deal with ABC for Monday night football. Howard Cosell was the fire brand polarizing host.
At the time bowling was the Monday night event, and football ended that. Miller Brewing was a regional brand who advertised on Monday Night Football and become a major national beer brand.
Scouting
Scouting is all about elimination, never about finding. You have to create a set of criteria for players, a profile of the player you want. Just like the FBI creates profiles for criminals. You look for those traits on your profile list.
You know what you’re looking for and have a system for finding that player. You eliminate the players who don’t fit the profile to whittle it down and find the right player. It’s not random or chaotic but an organized system of picking players.
What are you looking for in a QB? Per Mike, the QB has to have instincts and can play the position. Also needs to be a leader and have a work ethic. The QB must be the hardest worker on the team. With those instincts the quarterback has to see what others don’t see on the field. Good quarterbacks are born with these instincts.
Seg 4 – Interview Replay from early 2023
Clip from - BRT Entertainment – Sports Business w/ Rick Horrow, Aliens & X Files w/ Nick Pope, + Hollywood w/ Corbin Bernsen - BRT S04 EP09 (171) 2-26-2023
ABOUT RICK HORROW
Rick Horrow, one of the pioneers who has shaped the sports industry since 1972, has brought together over 100 industry leaders with insights on the history and future of the industry in his new book, The Sport Business Handbook: Insights from 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry, published by Human Kinetics and now available at Amazon.com and other bookstores.
As CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, Horrow has been the architect of more than 100 deals worth more than $20 billion in sports, performing arts, and other urban infrastructure projects. Horrow pioneered the public/private partnership and infrastructure branding concepts that, to date, has enticed more than $4 billion in corporate funding to cities and development projects. Horrow's clients have included the NFL, NHL, Major/Minor League Baseball, U.S. Polo, PGA Tour, NASCAR, Great White Shark Enterprises (Greg Norman), Ladies PGA, Professional Golf Association, Major League Soccer, plus multiple pro sports teams in Baseball and Basketball
He has been a key player in stadium, arena, and speedway deals in NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, Boston, Denver, Seattle, San Fran, Phili, Detroit, Cleveland, and many other cities. Horrow has also brought sports and entertainment ventures into Brazil, Argentina and Trinidad & Tobago, among others.
ARTICLE FROM MORNINGCONSULT.COM ON PREDICTIONS, STORYLINES & EVERYTHING ELSE THE SPORTS INDUSTRY IS WATCHING IN 2023
https://morningconsult.com/2022/12/21/2023-lookahead-predictions-for-the-sports-industry/
ARTICLE FROM SPORTSPROMEDIA.COM ON MLB REJECTING SPORTS BALLY SPORTS' STREAMING PROPOSAL
Notes –
Rick Horrow sports professor, book sports business handbook
Major cities want to have sports franchises from the big four. They want to attract big sporting events like golf tournaments, business conventions, the Super Bowl, college bowl games, or an Amazon shipping site.
This has a huge economic impact for a city, plus it gives it constant media and PR when events are located at that city. For example Phoenix is hosting the Super Bowl, and phoenix gets mentioned hundreds of times in a week on TV or thousands, and millions on the Internet and blogs.
It is very difficult to buy the type of PR that you get from media coverage on the big events. This is why cities like Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Fran, Vegas and Phoenix are always being talked about is destinations.
There is a lot of coordination involved along with public investment to get these major events at a city. The governor is involved, county people, and the mayor who usually takes the lead. Cities have departments of economic development specifically for these tasks.
It requires often a vote from the public, as well as public investment. What is going to be the ROI on having an event. What type of tax revenue do you get from travel, visitors, and hotels. On top of that there is community pride, so then people want to move to that city.
Rick is the editor of the sports handbook, and had numerous sports figures write a chapter, and also Coach K wrote the forward. He worked with Jerry Colangelo, Paul Tagliabue former NFL commissioner, Ryan Anderson of ASU fame, and Derek called of the baseball Diamondbacks.
Sports, sporting events and even events around sports have become a CTV. An example of this is the NFL draft or the NFL combine. Sports transcends TV, and becomes a worldwide global event. Radio city music Hall in New York used to host the NFL draft every year. They let that deal lapse and now the NFL draft is a traveling tour every year.
NBA free agency, NFL free agency, has made these sports year-long events. People talk about the trades and the draft often in the off-season. In 2010 it was a major TV event on ESPN called the decision when the LeBron chose the Miami Heat in free agency.
Full Show: HERE
Seg. 1 – Pete Rozelle and the History of TV & the NFL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (/roʊˈzɛl/; March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was an American businessman and executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement in November 1989. He became the youngest commissioner in NFL history at just the age of 33. He is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world.[1][2]
During his tenure, Rozelle saw the NFL grow from 12 teams to 28, oversaw the creation of large television-rights deals and the creation of Monday Night Football in 1970, oversaw the 1970 AFL–NFL merger and the creation of the Super Bowl, and helped the NFL move from a twelve-game schedule to a sixteen-game schedule. By the time of his retirement, many people considered him the most powerful commissioner in sports.[3] He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
History of the NFL on TV
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Football_League_on_television
Later in 1955, NBC became the televised home of the NFL Championship Game, paying $100,000 to the league. The 1958 NFL Championship Game played at Yankee Stadium between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants went into sudden death overtime. This game, since dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played," was watched widely throughout the country and is credited with increasing the popularity of professional football in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
CBS began to televise selected NFL regular season games in 1956.
By 1959, big-market teams such as the Bears and Giants had all their games televised, but small-market ones like the Packers and 49ers still did not. Upon becoming NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle worked to ensure that every team got all its games on TV.
Super Bowl 1
The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15, 1967 between the NFL champion Packers and the AFL champion Chiefs. As CBS held the rights to nationally televise NFL games and NBC had the rights to broadcast AFL matches, it was decided that both would cover that first game. The next three AFL-NFL World Championship Games, the initial Super Bowls, were then divided by the two networks: CBS broadcast Super Bowls II and IV while NBC covered III.
Monday Night Football
ABC also agreed to televise one regular season game per week on Monday night. ABC aired its first edition of Monday Night Football on September 21, 1970. MNF pushed the limits of football coverage with its halftime highlights segment, occasional banter from Howard Cosell and Don Meredith, and celebrity guests such as John Lennon, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Clinton. During its 36-year run on ABC, Monday Night Football consistently ranked among the most popular prime time broadcasts each week during the season.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game
The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl is the name given to a 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the Oakland Raiders and the visiting New York Jets. The contest, held on November 17, 1968, was notable for its exciting finish, in which Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to win the game 43–32. However, a decision by NBC, the game's television broadcaster, to break away from its coverage on the East Coast to broadcast the television film Heidi caused many viewers to miss the Raiders' comeback.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/how-much-broadcast-networks-depend-sports-1235143456/
How Much Sports Matter (or Don’t) to Network Viewership
Fox and NBC got more than a quarter of their primetime audience this season from live sports, while ABC and CBS are less dependent.
5/2022
Fox is on pace to finish third in total viewers among the broadcast networks this season, with an average primetime audience of about 4.7 million viewers.
The network can thank its various sports rights packages — the NFL and Major League Baseball chief among them — for that position. Stripping out sports from Fox’s primetime ratings for the season would put the network at under 3 million nightly viewers — 2.96 million, to be precise.
Fox is something of an outlier among its fellow broadcasters, Nielsen data from the last two seasons show. NBC also owes a sizable portion of their viewership to sports, while ABC likes to tout its viewership independent of it. CBS occupies something of a middle ground. Nonetheless, the outsized effect sports can have on network audiences speaks to why rights to such programming have skyrocketed in recent years. With live sports consistently the most reliable way to get people to watch linear TV (and the commercials that come with it), networks pay hefty premiums to secure those rights and the audiences that tend to follow.
The NFL’s annual revenue may increase by $2.3 billion a year due to widely available, legal, regulated sports betting, according to new AGA research.
The study analyzes the revenue streams that legal sports betting could generate for the NFL: revenue as a result of spending from betting operators on advertising, data and sponsorship, and revenue generated as a result of increased consumption of the league’s media and purchasing of products.
https://www.sportsmanagementdegreehub.com/fantasy-football-industry/
Fantasy football is an $18.6 billion market.That's $6 billion more than the current estimated NFL revenue, and 4.5 times the current value of the NFL's top flight team, the Dallas Cowboys. In other words, fantasy football might be more valuable than the real thing.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/193457/total-league-revenue-of-the-nfl-since-2005/
Total revenue of the NFL 2001-2022
In 2022, the 32 teams of the National Football League (NFL) generated a total revenue of approximately 18.6 billion U.S. dollars, which was an increase of over one billion U.S. dollars from the previous year.Sep 5, 2023
https://www.statista.com/statistics/615678/nfl-national-television-broadcast-deals/
Annual value of NFL national TV broadcast deals in the U.S. 2023
As of August 2023, ESPN/ABC's deal for exclusive rights to broadcast Monday Night Football was worth an average of approximately 2.7 billion U.S. dollars annually. This deal, which could last until 2032, was the largest among NFL broadcasting packages in the United States. The second most lucrative deal was Fox’s package for Sunday NFC, which had an annual worth of nearly 2.3 billion U.S. dollars.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/nfl-worth-revenue-team-values
While it’s difficult to place a valuation on the NFL as a whole, the league’s 32 franchises were worth a combined sum of more than $91 billion as of last September, according to Forbes. The average NFL franchise has a valuation of $2.86 billion, up 11 percent compared to one year ago and higher than the average valuations in Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League.
The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable NFL franchise, with an estimated valuation of $5.5 billion and $950 million in annual revenue. The Buffalo Bills are the least valuable NFL franchise, with an estimated valuation of $1.9 billion.
More on Sports Gambling –
Sports Gambling is Legal in AZ & Beyond w/ Adam Candee
- BRT S02 EP19 (66) 05-09-2021
What We Learned This Week
- AZ legalized sports gambling 4/2021 & develop rules to start in the fall of 2021, will have similar setup to Nevada & tax rate of 6.75%
- Low margin business – lots of data from NV, 55% win rate by sports book and then taxes
- NJ legal battle, Supreme Court in 2018 - ‘Pasba’ struck down Federal ban, now a state matter, and states can legalize sports gambling (vs Federal law 1992 – only in Vegas)
- Sports book will be inside US arenas, just like in Europe
- Big Players – Caesars, MGM, Fan Duel, Draft Kings, Betfair, Sky Bet, Penn National Gaming & Barstool Sports
Full Show: HERE
Sports Themed Show: HERE
‘Best Of’ Topic: https://brt-show.libsyn.com/category/Best+of+BRT
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