Roger Goodell

Roger Goodell-The Cost of a Bad Decision

The calls to remove Roger Goodell as NFL Commissioner are understandable, his handling of the Ray Rice situation is a classic example of how not to handle a crisis. What makes this troubling was prior to this situation his handling at least in the area of player personnel conduct had been spot-on. The players are being shown that their actions had consequences which means playing football is a privilege not a right and a privilege which can be taken away. Regardless if Goodell stays or goes the two problems that are at the heart of what caused this crisis will remain-money and the star system.

The pro sports franchise business model might be the most unique of any business model. Usually one person is responsible for paying all the expenses of running the team. The person does this from their personal account and without the help from a corporation, board, or a financial institution. The owner probably got their money from owning a successful business which they probably are still running or are involved in some executive capacity. This is where it gets tricky. The reason the business is probably a success is because the owner is very involved yet for a pro sports team to be successful the owner can't be too involved. If he is than you have the Jerry Jones situation in Dallas. Instead he has to find someone in a front office capacity who is familiar with how the sport is run and turn the day to day operations over to that person. That person then has to find a coach that a has philosophy that front office agrees with. From there the front office person drafts and acquires players that fit the coaches' philosophy. If the front person finds the right players and coach is up to his job of getting the most out of the players than the team enjoys success. If not than the team has to start over. This gets expense which why you have to a billionaire for this model to work. The best way to ensure to that the team is a success at least financially is by having a star so even team isn't a success if the team's star is than people will pay to see the star.

Stars in football are often found early like in high school or college. When a star is found early like this he gets to enjoy privileges that most people will never enjoy. If he gets trouble there's a good chance he'll be let off with the lightest sentence possible so the star can continue to produce which leads to money for him and his team. This causes the player to have so power than he can often get what he wants. This applies to the pros-if the star  player doesn't like a coach or front office man than the owner will probably back the player. This spills over to the fans of the team. If a player holds out for more money or threatens to leave as a free agent or force a trade than the fans get onto the team to resolve the matter so the player will stay. If the player does leave and he is key reason why the team was successful and the team quits being successful than the owner loses money.

The solution? Probably what Goodell had been so well prior to the Ray Rice incident which was suspending players when they did things that were unlawful. By doing this he is costing the players money which is making them more likely to follow the laws. This in turn is causing the owners to lose money which is causing them to make the players follow the law so they too can make money. If Goodell had issued a stiffer suspension for Ray Rice than he and league wouldn't be in the situation they find themselves. Hopeful from this point forward the league will remember this and they can avoid situation like this.