Lamar Woodley and Mike Tomlin celebrate win in Super Bowl XLIII
Money, money, money, money! No, I have not acquired the royalty rights from the O’Jays’ iconic song, nor am I referring to the most paranoid person on the planet when it comes to Black Americans in general and President Barack Obama in particular. The person that I am referring to is none other than probably the biggest scammer and “sham” artist in the history of finance, Donald Trump.
Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney holding Super Bowl XLIII Trophy.
In the recent past I have often wondered about the Pittsburgh sports franchises’ value relative to each other.
However I am a bit more fascinated than I thought I would be in regards to how these franchises fight for and share the “moneypie” in Pittsburgh as well as their percentage of the market regionally, nationally and globally.
Talking about the ultimate inflation bump, the Pittsburgh Steelers were purchased by Art Rooney in 1933 for get this, $2,500.00. They are currently worth more than $1.1 approximately billion.
Their base revenue per fan is approximately $39.
When sports business pros and enthusiasts talk about an creating and maintaining an almost perfect template to run any business let alone a sports franchise, Pittsburgh should be the pattern from which the majority of garments should be tailored.
The Rooney family began designing their garment of destiny in 1969 when they hired a young, teacher/coach and former offensive lineman Charles Henry Noll to weave the fabric from which they would craft future “suits of legend.
Noll, whose pedigree is unquestioned because he studied and learned his craft from the legendary iconic coach Paul Brown who defined and re-sculpted the game that Americans and the world have grown to love.
When Noll grabbed the reins of one of the most pitiful franchises in the history of professional sports, he not only had a vision of just winning but he also saw the need to create an in house player selection and development system that is emulated to this day by sports owners from across the globe.
The marketability of the Pittsburgh Steelers transcends more than just football and sports enthusiasts but impacts the GDP and marketing strategy on an entire city and region.
Take for example the CBS affiliate KDKA Television in Pittsburgh.
Although Pittsburgh is the 23rd largest market it is the 14th largest television market largely because of the presence of the Steelers who represent one of four franchises of the NFL AFC North Division.
The remaining three being the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns are the only team in the division that has not participated in postseason play during the past three years. For all intents and purposes the AFC North may be the most brutal and physical division in all of professional football.
With that sort of tenacity and imagery one does not have to wonder why the network and the affiliate that cover the AFC in general and the AFC North in particular consistently occupy such a strong market position.
One may assume that if the Philadelphia Eagles were located in Pittsburgh with their sporadic record of reaching and winning championships the television market would they be in such an enviable position.
Why? Because WPVI-TV ABC 6 in Philadelphia, the nation’s fourth largest market, is ranked 22nd in market share.
The bucks don’t stop with the Steelers, the money begins to flow with the men from the steel city.
Let’s move on to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 1999 the team was purchased by former Penguin and NHL superstar Mario Lemieux for $109 million dollars.
The 2013 value of the team by most estimates is at or hovers around $235 million dollars.
Lemieux seems to have been and remains a disciple of Rooney team management one on one because of the willingness of homegrown players as well as players raised outside of the organization who are ready, willing and able to accept less dough just to play for the Penguins.
In a forbes.com article, Mike Colligan wrote; After former Philadelphia Flyers winger Arron Asham signed with the rival Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend, his agent wasted no time revealing the reason for his decision to take less money with the team. “We had several very good offers,” Jarrett Bousquet told Inside PittsburghSports.com. “In the end, [Asham] felt Pittsburgh was the best place to win the Stanley Cup. ”Players turning down more lucrative offers to play for the Penguins is nothing new for the team.
In 2008, Brooks Orpik shunned the New York Rangers and others to stay with the team, as General Manager Ray Shero explained at the time: “You have guys who have called me — the same situation as last year — who really want to play here. I’m happy Brooks Orpik took less money to be here. He wants to be here.”
Pittsburgh has adopted a fiscal strategy that would more than likely be financially suicidal in many other sports markets in the country.
The mystique and the chance to be a champion in many cases may carry a little more clout than “a few dollars more.”
Now to my favorites, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Robert Nutting purchased the team in 1996 for $92 million dollars. The estimated value of the team in 2013 is in excess of $304 million dollars. Hey guys and dolls my calculator is on the blink. However, please hear this.
How can a team with more than 17 consecutive seasons of losing increase in value more than $212 million dollars?
Well because they kept ticket prices low and attached themselves to the previous brand of winning Pirates baseball. This is one case where the ghosts’ of excellence coupled with a marketing strategy that could convince a sixteen year old with a severe case of acne to join a colony of lepers won big. That being said; at least the team remained in the steel city. These sibling rivalries may fight for the dollars but they don’t have to fight for the loyalty of their fans.
(Forbes.com provided the stats)
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412-583-6741