April 13, 2026
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works.
Those famous words in the movie Wall Street embody a credo that has never been more relevant in professional sports.
The owners of pro sports franchises offer lip service to the fans, but what they really want – and often get – is the last dollar from the pockets of everyone who roots for their teams.
We’re seeing it now on a national level, and just as clearly right here in Philadelphia. Even our most popular owners are demonstrating, again and again, what their first priority is, and it’s not winning. It’s your money.
The billionaires never have enough, and if you were paying attention over the past few days, you saw all the proof you will ever need of their shameless greed.
For starters, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation last week into whether the NFL is unfairly demanding that fans pay more in subscription fees to see its games. Hey, let me save the probers some time. I already know the answer.
Yes.
Yes.
A thousand times yes.
How do I know this? Because – like so many sports fans in America – I am addicted to football. I watch every NFL game that I can, and retirement has made me available for almost all of them.
The only problem is, even though I was in the sports media for 50 years, often I don’t know where to find the next game. Is it on Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube TV, Peacock, Paramount-plus or ESPN-plus?
Every one of those streamers carry NFL games now. Good luck finding out when and where. Our government has dealt with so many complaints from fans over the past year that it felt compelled to try to understand why the NFL chose this path.
I can tell them that, too. Because greed is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Just check the portfolios of any of the insanely rich NFL owners. Even when they’re losing on the field, they’re winning big at the bank.
Billionaires know how to make money. What they don’t know is when to show some mercy. And it’s not just the bad owners; it’s all of them.
For example, John Middleton is regarded by most fans as a better-than-average owner, keeping the Phillies in contention every season by spending enormous amounts on star players. But Middleton has lost his way. Middleton has no clue now when he’s doing something offensive to the fans.
Last week, not long after eliminating the left-field tribute to Harry Kalas – an area named Harry the K’s – in favor of big bucks from Ghost Energy, Middleton held a charming news conference announcing the public unveiling of his art collection at a special show in June.
By all accounts, he has one of the most extensive and valuable art collections in the world, amassed over several decades with money he made in tobacco and baseball.
Normally, who cares? If he wants to show off a little, who are we to stop him? But the timing of this spectacle couldn’t possibly have been worse, so soon after saying the money from the energy company could be used to buy another free agent star.
Huh? Couldn’t the proceeds from just one of those paintings achieve the same goal? Of course it could. But then the money would be coming out of Middleton’s pocket, and not the fans’. Greed is good.
And then we have Jeff Lurie, the bloviating owner of the Eagles. He speaks once a year now, at the NFL Owners Meetings, unless his team is heading to the Super Bowl. In that case, he is readily available to pontificate, ad nauseum, about how brilliant he is at building a winning organization.
When the going gets good, Lurie’s mouth never stops flapping. When it doesn’t, poof. He’s invisible.
But now we have a new problem with this billionaire, too. He usually gets what he wants, and what he wants is a new domed stadium.
Who’s going to pay for this Lincoln Financial Field replacement, just 21 years into its existence? Well, the NFL will tell you the owners pay for most of new stadium construction these days. Yeah, right. Wait till you see what tickets cost in the new showplace, not to mention seat licenses, parking, food and trinkets.
Whenever a billionaire tells you he’s going to pay with his own money, your first instinct should be to reach for your billfold before he plucks it right out of your pocket.
By Lurie’s own admission, the Linc is still “wonderful,” but not wonderful enough to stage a Super Bowl because of the nasty weather here in February. He wants a Super Bowl, dammit. Greed is right.
And then there’s the biggest money-grubber of them all, at least in Philadelphia. Joshua Harris, the hedge-fund billionaire, is in the midst of another failed season for his 76ers. At least they finished over .500 this season, but their chances of winning a title are equal to my finishing first in a marathon. (I don’t even walk fast anymore.)
Harris fleeced the city and Comcast in a sweetheart deal last year that leveraged his fake love for Chinatown into a new arena back at the sports complex. At a Sixer game last month, I spent $40 for three bags of candy for my grandkids at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. When the new place opens, you’ll be paying 40 bucks for a bottle of water.
The biggest problem with Harris is, he never wins. Not in basketball, football or hockey. He has pro teams in all three sports, and they all underperform mostly every year. In total, the pro teams he owns in America have failed to win championships 29 times. None has even made it to the finals yet.
Meanwhile, Harris has no connection with the fans, no desire to share his thoughts with the great unwashed and no hope of any imminent changes to his predatory philosophy. Greed works.
Ironically, the bottom line here is literally the bottom line – more specifically, your bottom line.
- How much are you willing to pay for the growing number of streamers carrying NFL games?
- How willing are you to tolerate the snub of Harry Kalas in the interest of making the owner richer?
- How much do you support Lurie’s new toy, a dome, knowing the prices at the new place will bust the budget of most fans?
- How much richer are you going to make Harris with no real hope for a championship?
In the end, the fans have the final say on all of these issues because they – you – provide the money. The only one who can counteract this epidemic of greed is you.
Because when it comes to fans, greed is not good.
Some other things to consider . . . .
- For an entire season, the Sixers tried desperately to protect the health of the most fragile superstar in Philly history. Joel Embiid was available for only half the games this season, even though he had no major injuries. And now, he won’t be there for the playoffs because he just had appendix surgery. If this isn’t the time to give up on Embiid, when will it be?
- I recoiled last week at the photos of Patriots coach Mike Vrabel with Dianna Russini of the New York Times canoodling at a resort. Vrabel suggested the photos were taken “out of context,” as if there’s any context where it’s OK for an NFL coach to be hugging, holding hands and sharing a hot tub with the paper of record’s NFL insider. This is a new low for the state of sports journalism in America.
- I realize I’m pretty much ignoring the best story of the week in Philly sports, the ascension by the Flyers into position to make the playoffs. OK, I’ll admit it. I’m superstitious. I want nothing more than success for my former co-host and current Flyers president Keith Jones. He knows better than anyone that my endorsement is often a kiss of death. So I’ll hold off on saying anything until the mission is complete.
- Who has been a better quarterback for the Eagles, Donovan McNabb or Jalen Hurts? If your answer is McNabb, it’s time to get a 50,000-mile tune-up for your brain. I had a fierce debate last week with Howard Eskin on his podcast. He said it wasn’t close. McNabb was better. I said Hurts has made it to two Super Bowls in half the years it took McNabb to make it to one (where he threw up). I won the debate because the man with the most rings always wins.
- Most of my 33 years at WIP featured my relentless derision of golf. It is too finicky, too elitist, too boring. Now, three years into my retirement, and after a riveting Masters tournament, I am watching more golf than ever. Does that make me a hypocrite? I prefer to think of it as a late appreciation for a sport with extraordinary drama at the end of every close tournament. But to answer the original question is yes. I am definitely a hypocrite.