Of course nothing lasts forever so I am certainly not saying the NFL will continue being more and more popular and more and more lucrative for the league. But I don’t think it’s being ruined by greed.
JBlood (or should I call you "Johnny"?
), IMO if you get your wish about revoking the NFL’s exemption to antitrust laws that would accelerate the demise of the NFL more quickly than anything else I can think of. BTW, the SCOTUS in the
American Needle case found the league to be a cartel – 32 organizations working in concert with one another as opposed to being a monopoly. Either way the league has the exemption but I think that’s an important distinction regarding on-the-field competitiveness. Without the exemption there would be no draft, no salary cap, no FA restrictions and I don’t know how they’d justify revenue sharing. That the 32 teams
collude (with the agreement of the NFLPA) regarding these things makes the league much more competitive, not less. Without it I think very quickly a very few very rich teams would dominate the league by accumulating most of the best talent. (Seattle's owner could buy half - or more - of what would have been the first round, couldn't he?)
As for free markets, IMO trademark (and patent) laws are an essential restraint. Why should any clothing manufacturer be able to benefit from the NFL trademark without compensating the league? And you seem to have solved your jersey problem. If the seller is caught, no doubt another will spring up. I don’t know since I haven’t seen their books, but I would guess there’s a good reason why the Packers Pro Shop charges what they do for the merchandise they offer for sale. If dust accumulates on any of it, my guess is the price will come down. Either way we're free to buy what we see as fair value or not buy what we see as too expensive.
Taxpayers who believe they’ve been fleeced have their solution at hand but it seems seldom a politician suffers for supporting a stadium. And one doesn’t have to be a fan of a particular team or league to realize its economic benefit to the area. If the benefit isn’t apparent, then each taxpayer has the right to oppose it and encourage others to do so.
I don’t mind commercials during games but if I did, I’d start watching the game via DVR about 1 ½ to 2 hours after it began and fast forward through them. I choose to subscribe to cable TV and a DVR service but because of where I live, Packers games would be available to me for free, save having to watch the commercials. That’s a small price IMO since I don’t believe I’m entitled to view them free of cost or “inconvenience”. As far as blackouts, isn’t NFL ticket available to nearly everyone in the US? If I move to another state, I’ll gladly pay for NFL games.
Oshkoshpackfan, I believe the current CBA runs through 2021 so we’ll see labor peace until then. And IMO once the NFL reaches its peak, it will gradually lose popularity and become less profitable. I’m not sure why you predict a crash.