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[SIZE=+2]NFL fills in revenue-sharing blanks
[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]Low-earning teams that meet benchmarks get to dive into $430 pool
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]09:15 PM CDT on Monday, March 26, 2007
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By RICK GOSSELIN / The Dallas Morning News
rgosselin@***BANNED-URL*** [/SIZE] PHOENIX – The NFL voted to approve a revenue-sharing plan that requires the 15 highest-revenue teams to create a pool of $430 million over the next four years to subsidize the 15 lowest-revenue teams.
The NFL agreed to revenue sharing in March 2006, but it took the owners almost a year to hammer out the details. The resolution passed by a 30-2 margin at the NFL's annual spring meeting Monday, with Cincinnati and Jacksonville casting the no votes.
To receive funds, a low-revenue team must have actual player costs higher than the league average of 65 percent of player spending.
But there are three qualifiers. First, if a team moves into a new or renovated stadium costing in excess of $150 million, it becomes ineligible for revenue sharing. Second, if ownership of a team changes, it too becomes ineligible. Finally, if a team's gate revenue falls below 90 percent of the league average, it also becomes ineligible.
"I thought it was a good compromise," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, one of the high-revenue owners. "It was a trade-off in the negotiations. The most important thing was the dollars. The only thing that really counts is the dollars. We needed to come up with a compromise on the amount of money that changes hands."
The high-revenue teams funded a pool of $100 million in 2006. That pool increases to $110 million in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for the low-revenue teams.
Work remains on code of conduct: NFL owners also spent a chunk of Monday's meeting discussing the implementation of a personal conduct penalty with some teeth. But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he did not expect to leave Phoenix with a policy in place. The meetings run through Wednesday.
"I do hope to get a revised policy out before the draft" on April 28, Goodell said. "This is a very complicated issue, and there's no simple answer to it."
The league has been embarrassed by off-the-field incidents in recent months involving Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears, Pacman Jones of the Tennessee Titans and Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals. Goodell made it one of his first priorities as commissioner to crack down on repeat offenders.
"We'll be dealing with them pretty harshly," Goodell said.
"We believe we are held to a higher standard. The [NFL] shield is the most important thing. We believe our players, our coaches and everyone involved in the NFL, including commissioners, should be held to a higher standard."
Colts to open season vs. Saints: The NFL announced that defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis will kick off the 2007 season at home on Thursday night, Sept. 6, against NFC runner-up New Orleans. The game pits Colts quarterback Peyton Manning against his hometown Saints.
"New Orleans was a terrific story for the league last year, both on and off the field," Goodell said. "We thought it would be a great game to highlight to kick off our season."
Faulk makes retirement official: Marshall Faulk officially announced his retirement from the St. Louis Rams at the meetings. He did not play in 2006 because of a knee injury that forced him to spend the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list.
Faulk played 12 years with the Indianapolis Colts and Rams and finished his career as the NFL's ninth all-time leading rusher with 12,279 yards.
Halfback "is a tough position," Faulk said. "A lot of guys get to enjoy only two or three years before getting hurt. I enjoyed 12."
Faulk won a Super Bowl and an NFL MVP award with the Rams. He becomes eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012 in a class that could potentially include two other top-10 rushers, Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis.
[/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]Low-earning teams that meet benchmarks get to dive into $430 pool
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]09:15 PM CDT on Monday, March 26, 2007
[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]By RICK GOSSELIN / The Dallas Morning News
rgosselin@***BANNED-URL*** [/SIZE] PHOENIX – The NFL voted to approve a revenue-sharing plan that requires the 15 highest-revenue teams to create a pool of $430 million over the next four years to subsidize the 15 lowest-revenue teams.
The NFL agreed to revenue sharing in March 2006, but it took the owners almost a year to hammer out the details. The resolution passed by a 30-2 margin at the NFL's annual spring meeting Monday, with Cincinnati and Jacksonville casting the no votes.
To receive funds, a low-revenue team must have actual player costs higher than the league average of 65 percent of player spending.
But there are three qualifiers. First, if a team moves into a new or renovated stadium costing in excess of $150 million, it becomes ineligible for revenue sharing. Second, if ownership of a team changes, it too becomes ineligible. Finally, if a team's gate revenue falls below 90 percent of the league average, it also becomes ineligible.
"I thought it was a good compromise," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, one of the high-revenue owners. "It was a trade-off in the negotiations. The most important thing was the dollars. The only thing that really counts is the dollars. We needed to come up with a compromise on the amount of money that changes hands."
The high-revenue teams funded a pool of $100 million in 2006. That pool increases to $110 million in 2007, 2008 and 2009 for the low-revenue teams.
Work remains on code of conduct: NFL owners also spent a chunk of Monday's meeting discussing the implementation of a personal conduct penalty with some teeth. But NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he did not expect to leave Phoenix with a policy in place. The meetings run through Wednesday.
"I do hope to get a revised policy out before the draft" on April 28, Goodell said. "This is a very complicated issue, and there's no simple answer to it."
The league has been embarrassed by off-the-field incidents in recent months involving Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears, Pacman Jones of the Tennessee Titans and Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals. Goodell made it one of his first priorities as commissioner to crack down on repeat offenders.
"We'll be dealing with them pretty harshly," Goodell said.
"We believe we are held to a higher standard. The [NFL] shield is the most important thing. We believe our players, our coaches and everyone involved in the NFL, including commissioners, should be held to a higher standard."
Colts to open season vs. Saints: The NFL announced that defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis will kick off the 2007 season at home on Thursday night, Sept. 6, against NFC runner-up New Orleans. The game pits Colts quarterback Peyton Manning against his hometown Saints.
"New Orleans was a terrific story for the league last year, both on and off the field," Goodell said. "We thought it would be a great game to highlight to kick off our season."
Faulk makes retirement official: Marshall Faulk officially announced his retirement from the St. Louis Rams at the meetings. He did not play in 2006 because of a knee injury that forced him to spend the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list.
Faulk played 12 years with the Indianapolis Colts and Rams and finished his career as the NFL's ninth all-time leading rusher with 12,279 yards.
Halfback "is a tough position," Faulk said. "A lot of guys get to enjoy only two or three years before getting hurt. I enjoyed 12."
Faulk won a Super Bowl and an NFL MVP award with the Rams. He becomes eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012 in a class that could potentially include two other top-10 rushers, Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis.