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April 5, 2001
Team Owners Sound Off at University of Texas
Public financing of stadiums, player pay are hot topics
By Steven H. Lee / The Dallas Morning News
Austin, TX – Three of the state's most prominent professional sports team owners tackled topics ranging from player salaries to public financing of stadiums in a panel discussion at the University of Texas business graduate school Wednesday.
Rangers and Stars owner Tom Hicks predicted that the number of Major League Baseball teams will be reduced because of lack of support in various markets. And he once again defended the record $252 million, 10-year contract extended to star shortstop Alex Rodriguez, as well as public financing for the new American Airlines Center.
San Antonio resident and Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs, who wants a new stadium, said Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell was right to move the team from Cleveland years ago for lack of local financial support.
And Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, whom many credit for the team's return to the NBA playoffs this year, said he took an organization that "defined mediocrity" and instilled fun.
"If you don't love it as a sport, you won't love it as a business," Mr. Cuban said. "Sport is a business of passion."
The discussion was part of the MBA Executive Lecture Series at the university's McCombs School of Business – named after panelist McCombs. The student audience of about 500 gave the Vikings owner a standing ovation at introduction and roared when Mr. Hicks flashed the "Hook 'em Horns" sign. Both men are major UT benefactors.
At the start, author and moderator Bud Shrake asked Mr. Hicks to respond to the notion that he's "ruined" baseball with the record contract to Mr. Rodriguez.
"He will break every record in baseball if he stays healthy," he said. "Somebody was going to pay him and we locked him up for 10 years. And it works within our business model."
Even with the deal accounting for about one-fourth of the Rangers' payroll this year, Mr. Hicks said, player salaries will take up about half of total revenue and still allow a 10 percent to 15 percent return. He said the signing has already boosted the franchise's value.
A lack of investment in some baseball markets will mean a reduction in the number of teams, he said. He railed at criticism that sports franchises don't create economic spinoff benefits. He said the new American Airlines Center will revitalize downtown Dallas, bringing a return of 10 times more than the public's contribution of $125 million to build the new Mavericks and Stars arena.
Of public financing of stadiums, Mr. McCombs said, "That's an economic model we live with, whether it should be or not."
He said that professional sports teams belong to the fans but that the community is responsible for keeping them competitive.
Asked about Mr. Modell, Mr. McCombs replied: "He could not get any kind of accommodation, so he moved the club. Then the citizens did 10 times as much to create an environment for a new owner. There, I would fault the city."
Mr. Cuban, whom Mr. Shrake introduced as "the best thing to happen to the Dallas Mavericks since they put air in basketballs," said he changed the culture of the organization.
"When I got to the Mavericks ... it was all about survival," Mr. Cuban said. "The attitude was: How can we cut costs so that we won't feel any more pain? – when there wasn't pain in the first place."
He emphasized promotion, calling it a 24-hour-a-day job.
"We're selling sore throats," he said. "I'm selling you the right to scream your lungs out. You can't do it at home and you can't do it at work."
Mr. Hicks said the Mavericks' previous owners are "good guys, good friends of mine, but they had no passion for the sport." After the panel discussion, he said the ownership group, led by Ross Perot Jr., acknowledged that the team was an "adjunct" of other enterprises.
The 90-minute session was sprinkled with humor.
After Mr. Combs said that respect for the league is most important, Mr. Hicks joked that volatile Yankees owner George Steinbrenner hasn't gotten the message.
"I didn't get that advice, either," cracked Mr. Cuban, who has been fined several times in run-ins with NBA management.
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
