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Commissioner Paul Tagliabue opened the 2004 NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida today with a 30-minute review of overall league affairs for a group of approximately 300 owners, club presidents, head coaches, front-office employees, and league officials. Following are excerpts from the Commissioner’s review: · “The NFL system – combining the talents of players, coaches, front office administrators, and ownership – continues to deliver the absolute best in sports entertainment. The competition is intense and unpredictable.” · “As your teams competed intensely with little margin for error, they also demonstrated an important point: sustained team excellence in our league under a very demanding system is not only possible, it is happening. The 12 teams that made the playoffs were 42-18 after Thanksgiving and 136-56 for the season. Many of our 2003 playoff teams have been strong over an extended period of time. Yes, the margin of winning in the NFL may be closer than ever, but the tools for fielding a playoff-quality team through repeat seasons are available.” · “We also pay tribute today to an individual who has contributed to the league and its success in remarkable ways during five decades. Think of this: Art Modell’s teams have competed in more than half of all the seasons in the entire history of the NFL since 1920 – 43 Modell seasons out of 84 total NFL seasons. Art is a legend of our game and one of life’s unforgettable characters. This is Art’s final league meeting as owner of the Ravens before he passes the baton – or the football – to Steve Bisciotti. Art, we deeply appreciate your leadership, your friendship, and all the ways you contributed to the NFL. Your fingerprints are deeply embedded in the history of the league – the competition, collective bargaining, and, of course, television. You consistently led strong franchises and won championships as a tough competitor, but you always kept the best interests of the league partnership at the forefront.” · “The quality of the competition across the league resulted in record regular-season paid attendance last year – both in total tickets sold and the average of more than 66,000 per game. Our television ratings continued to be the gold standard, not only in sports but for all of television. The audience for NFL games on broadcast television last season finished ahead of network primetime ratings by the widest margin ever – 58 percent. Our broadcast accomplishments in 2003 included the launch of the NFL Network to critical acclaim and the league’s first agreement for satellite radio coverage of all NFL games, which will take effect this season.” · “We also continued to strengthen our partnership – and demonstrate leadership -- with the Players Association. These efforts included joint programs on important public policy issues, including the medical care that NFL players receive and the elimination of performance-enhancing and dangerous substances from our game.” · “We continue to have extraordinary fan interest and support, but we cannot take anything for granted – or take comfort in yesterday’s news. ‘The future is now,’ as a famous Hall of Fame coach often said, because there are vital league agreements that must be renewed or extended in the next year if possible. These agreements are responsible for much of our success as a league, involving our television arrangements, Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Players Association, and our licensing and sponsorship business, to name three priorities. We have major decisions ahead of us that will shape our future in a dramatic way.” · “The NFL’s overall revenue-sharing rules – through our league television, labor, box office, and marketing agreements – are often recognized as the single biggest factor in the NFL business success over the past five decades. In all of our decision-making of the past decade, we have paid close attention to how revenue sharing is maintained or modified, and we must continue to do so.” · “Our network television partners understand the unmatched value of the NFL and hope to retain their NFL rights. In the coming months, we expect to have intensive negotiations with our current network partners on the possibility of extending their contracts. With direction from our Broadcast Committee, we are focused on maintaining our very successful team and fan friendly national television arrangements, but we are prepared to adapt to dramatically changing technology and the evolving multi-channel world.” · “There will continue to be intensive club and league work on new stadiums. Last week’s announcement in New York of the agreement between the Jets, the City, and the State on a new domed stadium was an important step not only for the Jets but also for the league. Progress is being made in Los Angeles where we are working on three potential NFL stadium sites. However, significant stadium issues also must be addressed in Indianapolis, Minnesota, Dallas, San Francisco, San Diego, and elsewhere.” # # # |