Sports owners acting on impulse aren't always acting in the best interest of sport, but rather, protecting their bottom line.
Carolina Hurricanes owner Ron Dundon invested $250 million in the fledgling Alliance of American Football, and became its controlling partner in the process. In hindsight, in the wake of the league suspending operations on Tuesday, it's more like a case of a well-heeled weasel entering a sparsely filled hen house.
As reported earlier this week, Dundon, acting on his own over the objections of league founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian, elected to shut the league down. $70 million out of the $250 million invested will be lost, and, ignoring the partners he'd usurped, Dundon took a me-first approach, and pulled the plug, cutting his losses to protect his portfolio. In other words, to borrow from the Steve Miller Band, Dundon took the remaining money and ran.
Week 9 runs opposite the NCAA men's basketball Final Four. Major League Baseball ate into AAF ratings last week. Most games air on cable or on satellite/online-only Bleacher Report, although CBS was ready to get back in the pool. CBS had a game scheduled for noon (ET) to lead to the Final Four. Dundon, afraid of bleeding more money, decided to bail, leaving CBS, NFL Network, and CBS Sports Network scrambling to fill time Saturday & Sunday.
Here's a highlight reel of what you might've missed from a recent game.
I honestly think Dundon, or from this point forward, Dumdum, acted too rashly, too quickly, all to save his money and his reputation, such as it might be. Ebersol & Polian, who should've known better than to let him have complete control, look like chumps getting fleeced.
Dumdum, then, gets the Weasel of the Week award for his Benedict Arnold power play. I wonder what a weasel looks like on ice skates........
No comments:
Post a Comment