If you were looking for a NFL analogue to fading lion George Steinbrenner, you'd be hard pressed to find one who fit the bill better than Jerry Jones. Both men enjoy the limelight, favor signing players with big names and big baggage and each one owns a team that is either loved or reviled, with no in between, by the fans of their respective sport. It makes sense, then, that the Cowboys and Yankees are now in business together.
The Sports Business Journal reports that the two teams have joined forces to start Legends Hospitality Management, a company that will handle concessions, suite catering and team stores at the new stadiums the teams will open in 2009. The two teams each own a third of the company with Goldman Sachs, which helped them raise $100 million, owning most of the remaining shares. In addition to the two home stadiums, the company will pursue contracts with other venues.
It will be interesting to see how successful they are with that part of the venture. I can't imagine many NFL or MLB teams will be lining up to help fill the coffers of their competitors, especially when they'd then have to sit back and watch Jones and/or Hank Steinbrenner crow about how fantastically amazing they are and how their franchises are the gold standard of everything that's ever existed.
Another thought for the Yankees to consider might be how many of their fans are also fans of the Giants. While this is a smart business move, akin to the YES Network in terms of maximizing revenues, it may rub many of those fans the wrong way to learn that the Yankees are getting into bed with a divisional rival of their favorite football team. After all, the Giants have a stadium of their own opening in a couple of years and the Yankees could have won some PR points by keeping the money in the family, so to speak, instead of getting in bed with the enemy.
