NFL owner Arthur Blank on building bonds between teams and communities

I’ve long considered Arthur Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot who now owns the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United of the MLS, to be one of the more thoughtful figures in the sports world. He appeared on a webinar Tuesday organized by Cornell University, and I collected a few thoughts based Blank’s comments.

*One theme Blank mentioned repeatedly was the importance of listening to feedback from frontline workers, which led to an interesting anecdote.

According to Blank, after he purchased the Falcons in 2001, players told him their biggest gripe with the current state of the franchise was that the team didn’t have a home field advantage. The atmosphere in Atlanta paled in comparison to what they experienced when the team traveled to other cities for games.

Blank proposed slashing ticket prices to get more fans in the stands, a solution that seems far from revolutionary. However, he noted that the move faced heavy resistance from the other NFL owners. They argued that if Atlanta cut ticket prices, their fans would also pressure them for discounts. Blank held firm, and the Falcons’ home attendance surged about 30% in the first season under his ownership.

I was struck by the idea that the other owners would consider it their business to gripe to the Falcons about what they’re charging for tickets. It illustrates the cartel-ish reality of pro sports as a business.

But the episode also speaks to the dynamic between individual teams and their leagues as a collective whole. The thinking goes that the way in which one team operates ostensibly invites comparisons with the rest of the league. From the outside looking in, it creates a limbo zone of issues in which it’s unclear if the league or the teams themselves have the final say. That ethos explains why issues like kneeling during the national anthem or the NBA’s business relationship with China usually turn into consensus-building exercises among the owners.

A strength-in-numbers philosophy has served pro teams well when it comes to marketing and bargaining with television networks for rights fees. Nevertheless, you have to wonder what kind of autonomy that arrangement leaves for socially conscious ownership groups and management teams seeking to make a positive impact on matters of social justice and in the communities around them.

*On a similar note, Blank emphasized the intrinsic value in ensuring that Falcons and United games remain accessible experiences for all of Atlanta. That played a part in the building of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is situated in the middle of the city. It also accounts for the stadium’s affordable food and beverage options relative to other venues around the country.

(It’s worth mentioning that plenty of local detractors have spoken out over time about efforts led by Blank to revitalize Atlanta’s Westside district adjacent to the stadium.)

*Blank also addressed the lack of diversity in coaching hires around the NFL. I say “addressed” because aside from admitting it is a problem, his comments were light on specifics about strategies to fix the issue. This feels like a common thread throughout pro football.