Word: stadiums
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Actually, the teams that are consistently in the play-offs tend to be the ones with the best players, coaches and managers. That they happen to play in a new stadium may be more of a coincidence. A stadium-building program that the NFL started under former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who left office in July after 17 years, has helped finance a dozen new playing palaces. That includes such venues as New England, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Philadelphia, Denver and Washington. Sure, the Super Bowl--champion Steelers play...
Heinz Field (which has done nothing for Heinz, by the way), but the same team won four Super Bowls playing in the odious Three Rivers Stadium. The common denominator is the Rooney family, which has owned the Steelers for as long as the Bidwills have ruled the Cardinals. Over the past 40 years, though, the Rooneys have been far better managers than the Bidwills...
Michael Bidwill, 41, makes the case that the stadium is the shiny manifestation of a new business model that will narrow the gap on the field and on P&L. Seated in one of the generously cushioned, red club seats on the day before the stadium's grand opening on Aug. 12, he says the extra revenue that Cardinals Stadium will generate each year is already helping the team attract and keep top talent. That includes former Indiana Colts running back Edgerrin James, 28, who just signed a four-year, $30 million contract, as well as breakout stars like wide...
...conditioned arena, which lets in natural light through its retractable roof made of woven polyester reinforced with Teflon, also restores a home-field advantage lost to the desert heat. Because of the climate, the Cardinals haven't had a home opener in the open-air Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University in Tempe since they moved from St. Louis in 1988. And when they played at home, the 73,000-seat stadium was often half empty. Now, with the eight home games sold out for 2006, "all that positive energy gives our guys a boost," says coach Dennis Green...
Employees know, however, that even a new headquarters doesn't guarantee a better operation. "Buildings don't win games. Players do," says Kurt Warner, the veteran starting quarterback who led the team to a dismal 5-11 season last year. But buildings can produce income. The stadium could generate an additional $60 million in revenue, since the team keeps two-thirds of ticket sales and all the money from suites. The Bidwills can bank on an additional $25 million or more in estimated annual profits (on top of the $16.5 million Forbes calculates the team made in 2004), according...