The NFL: Live long and prosper

The National Basketball Association, under Commissioner David Stern, has an image problem. Major League Baseball, under Bud Selig, has a steroid problem. The National Hockey League, under Gary Bettman, has more problems than it does fans. Meanwhile, the National Football League, under Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, has the problem of prosperity, which frankly, is no problem at all. \nTagliabue announced Monday that he will be stepping down as commissioner of the NFL starting in July. In his 16-year reign as head honcho, Tagliabue has served the NFL as Augustus Caesar served ancient Rome. He has commissioned contracts and compromised deals resulting in riches that would make Scrooge McDuck and his vault full of golden coins green with envy. Under Tagliabue, the NFL has seen the value of franchises increase tenfold -- from $70 million in 1989 to $700 million today.\nThe only league in American sports close to enjoying the revenues the NFL racks up is Major League Baseball, and still America's pastime hardly comes close America's game. In 2005, NFL league revenue was $5.7 billion, while baseball gained a little more than $4 billion. Today an NFL team is valued at more than $820 million per team. An MLB team is worth more than $330 million. \nLook at those figures again, and you'll see why life is good for Paul Tagliabue and why the timing of his retirement is like Derek Jeter on top of an 8-year-old kid's fastball. While Tagliabue's tale might not have begun "a long, long time ago," its fairy-tale ending is no myth. \nBut when he entered the league as commissioner, Tagliabue's time was not all fair catches. He replaced Pete Rozelle, a man who catered to the media and cared for his owners, but whose role slowly extinguished like the lit cigarettes he trademarked at his press conferences. \nIn the eyes of the NFL media and its millionaires, Rozelle was radiant while Tagliabue was timid and at times hot- tempered. He was taunted and his friends tagged him as "the smartest person in the room" -- a mark which had marred him as a mystery, but certainly made him a surefire success. \nThe only brain fart in a resume of revenue for the 65-year-old commissioner was the Los Angeles market. In 1995, Tagliabue allowed both the Rams and Raiders to leave L.A. for St. Louis and Oakland, Calif., respectively. Since then the NFL has been looking to expand its interests toward a location that currently is home to two MLB teams: the Angels and Dodgers. The New Orleans Saints, finally dry and disaster-free, have been targeted to leave for L.A. \nYet, Tagliabue's genius -- and Rozelle's downfall -- is his ability to get the necessary three-fourths of the votes from NFL owners to agree with any new policies or plans. As Tagliabue has coined it, he is "herding cats" -- gathering owners who are both independent-minded and investment-driven. \nUnder Rozelle, the NFL had strikes in 1982 and 1987. Under Tagliabue, the league has seen profit, prosperity and even historic parallel. It was a transfer of power akin to ancient Rome's ousting of Julius Caesar and appointment of Augustus. Augustus led Rome through Pax Romana, or "Roman Peace," a period of stability. Tagliabue has ushered in Pax NFL. \nTagliabue is doing what every athlete in his profession can only dream to achieve: He is leaving on top of his game. He is fresh off an agreement that will keep the NFL labor-lock free for the next seven years. Tagliabue has overseen more than two-thirds of NFL teams currently playing in or building new stadiums, he has secured an $8 billion television deal through 2011 and has expanded new markets in cities like Charlotte, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla. \nToday, the NFL is the most lucrative league in American sports, an elite business that is undisputed and unrivaled. \nThe NFL's major problem? Prosperity. And to Tagliabue, that's no problem at all.