NFL owners sent a disciplinary letter to Jerry Jones (and his lawyer) accusing the Cowboys’ owner of “conduct detrimental to the league’s best interests”; stirring up talks that Jones could be removed (through a forced sale of his team) as a league owner. Jones has been trying to void Roger Goodell’s contract extension, which was unanimously agreed upon in May; threatening “severe retaliation” against the league and its owners if they were to pursue his removal. On Thursday, Jones formally requested a special league meeting to discuss the Commissioner’s contract extension negotiations — just one day after his fellow league owners told him to drop the issue. The compensation committee (Blank, Hunt, Kraft, Mara, McNair and Rooney) rejected his request and will meet on December 13 to work “diligently to fulfill its mandate.” (i.e. propose extension)
Howie Long-Short: When Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989, no American sports franchise had ever sold for more than $100 million; Jones paid $140 million for the Dallas football team. The most recent Forbes valuation had the franchise worth $4.8 billion. Forbes tends to undervalue franchises (valued Nets at $1.8 billion, team sold for $2.3 billion; valued Rockets at $1.65 billion, sold for $2.2 billion), so if Jones were to sell, the team would likely fetch $5 billion; an ROI of 3,371%.
Fan Marino: Jones is on an island here and he’s fighting a losing battle. Daniel Snyder is the only other owner who fully supports his efforts. With that said, he’s not being forced out of the league (this isn’t a Frank McCourt situation). They could suspend him (see: George Steinbrenner) and if he goes far enough, perhaps they could justify a lifetime ban (see: Donald Sterling), but no American professional franchise owner has ever been made to part with their team.
Jerry Jones Asks for Sit-Down With Fellow NFL Owners
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