Irsay Can You See the Super Bowl in Indy and Not Arlington?

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., May 21 2007 at 8:40 AM

Categories: Sports

Tomorrow, NFL team owners will award the 2011 Super Bowl, but to whom? The Dallas Cowboys? Maybe. Jerry Jones certainly thinks his 'Boys deserve it; he ain't spending a billion on 100,000 seats in Arlington for just to be closer to the Judge Roy Scream. The Arizona Cardinals? No way. Greedy bastards. The Indianapolis Colts? Probably. Say what? Hey, people like Indy owner Jim Irsay; Jerry Jones, surprise, not as much:

[Jones] has rankled many of his owner colleagues in the past by attempting to maximize his franchise's marketing potential rather than following a league-first blueprint, although that probably fostered favor among the NFL's new-wave owners...

[Irsay's] behind-the-scenes resume includes helping to formulate the foundation of the NFL's current labor agreement and serving on the Realignment, Finance and Management Council executive committees. He also chairs the Legislative Committee and is on the Super Bowl Policy Committee.

In these positions, Irsay has continually stressed the importance of revenue sharing among owners and the need to put the NFL first. That likely gained bargaining chips with many of the league's "old guard" owners, including the Rooneys in Pittsburgh, the Maras with the New York Giants and the Hunts in Kansas City.

Course, that's from The Indianapolis Star, but, ahem, Rick Gosselin doesn't necessarily disagree. Come tomorrow, don't say you weren't warned. --Robert Wilonsky

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