Things you didn't know

In case you were wondering how Green Bay (population 102,313, according to my 2003 Rand McNally atlas) can support an NFL team while Cedar Rapids (pop. 120,758) can barely draw 2,500 to an average Kernels game in the summer, consider this:

The way the latest NFL-NFLPA agreement works, for all intents and purposes, broadcast fees go directly to players. Ticket sales cover the clubs' expenses (coaching, facilities, overhead), and owners make their profit on everything left over (local radio rights, tie-in marketing, parking and food sales).

Let's stop to consider what this means to the average NFL athlete. This season, average NFL pay -- monies actually received, not contract paper value -- will be somewhat more than $1.7 million per gentleman. That's almost exactly the $3.7 billion in broadcast rights fees, divided by roughly 2,000 NFL players on rosters or on injured reserve.

So... as long as the stadium is full (which it always is because people in Wisconsin love their Packers) and the beer and nacho sales are steady (again, this is Wisconsin...), the ridiculous payroll of an NFL squad is no problem for the publicly-owned team, the only NFL franchise thus operated.

Could the Packers pick up and move to CR and fare as well? Of course not. But if they were there from the start? You betcha. And could the Pack make more cash in a bigger city where radio rights and, more importantly, tie-in marketing were more lucrative? Almost certainly. But the genius of the NFL's revenue sharing plan for TV rights is what ensures there's no such thing as a "small-market" team in the NFL. Well, that and the salary floor/cap structure, although the two go hand-in-had (as in, the league tells you how much you can spend but also essentially gives you the money to dole out).

Of course, the huge difference between the NFL and every other sport is that nothing, save individual activities like golf and tennis, and even those are a stretch, lends itself to television the way football does. Juggling 15 NFL games on a Sunday is tough enough for the three networks involved (FOX, CBS and now NBC). Imagine trying to judge 15 Major League Baseball games each Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday through Sunday. Then try to convince fans in each Major League city to watch each minute of those ballgames the same way they're glued to the NFL each Sunday.

I don't really have a point here, just thought I'd throw some facts on the table.

Read more such information courtesy of Tuesday Morning Quarterback.