Considering the history of soccer leagues and teams in this country, showing a profit might be an insurance blanket some of us wish for. If a league is losing millions and millions per year and publicly announces a five-year commitment plan, that's not exactly a dream situation. A profit is a heck of a lot better.
This was my understanding, though I certainly have no direct "I" knowledge. In my humble experience, all the jokes typically historically made about lawyers... just trade out "lawyers" for "accountants"
Sure, but I really do think real estate is a big reason people get involved. Every new stadium now includes an entertainment district with it. Even just a small slice of that gets you rent checks, kick backs on sales revenues, etc.
Not disagreeing with you about the Haslams, but the Edwards family is not involved in the real estate development around the stadium ; ) . I’ll also say that both the Edwards family and Nationwide have good relationships with the city, so are able to open doors on their own without the help of a sports team. Same is true of the Pizutti’s (Haslam’s business partner in the deal).
The thing about being "profitable" is accounting has a lot of intricacies that can make a great business look poor and vice versa. Most people think about the obvious when they hear the word profit, comparing cash in to cash out. If you bring in more cash than you pay out, you're profitable. But that's not how it works for corporations. Contracts and salaries for players and coaches are amortized in accounting. If you sign a player to a 5-year, $20 million contract, with 90% of the contract paid in year 1, the cash looks like this: $18.0M, $0.5M, $0.5M, $0.5M, $0.5M But the books measuring profit look like this: $4.0M, $4.0M, $4.0M, $4.0M, $4.0M Equipment and facility installations can be expensed immediately or expensed over 5-10 years, depending on how much of a deduction you need today. Loans and leases almost always have different cash payback terms compared to what's booked for associated expenses in accounting. It is very easy for a shrewd business owner and an experienced accountant to make a business that cash flows positively look like it's never "profitable." That's why some businesses, like pro sports teams, get valued and sold at numbers that don't make sense on the surface: the accounting results frequently don't reflect the actual cash results.
Sure, that's why I mentioned the Haslams and people like them. We all know the role the Edwards played in STC, they are here for 'the right reasons.'
Tennessee received a $130 million investment from Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, the largest in its university’s history.https://t.co/ScIO4tVgX3— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 4, 2026
UMM do you know anything about the Edwards family? Check who is involved with that big tall new tower - Merchant Building in Arena district and like 10 other projects around the core of the city. My guess is you can also find some of IBP's companies installing insulation, gutters, doors etc at those new building next to stadium.
She most certainly is. I assumed that the Edwards Companies would be involved in the Astor Park development, but that's not been the case. Elsewhere in Columbus, absolutely. Now, I will say that some of the infrastructure improvements that public money paid for, such as water and sewer enhancements, benefit developments outside of Astor Park. So there's a modest link there, but nothing direct.
Absolutely, the Edwards’ are involved in many buildings around Columbus, they have been long before they bought the Crew. IBP was also a huge publicly traded company prior to purchasing the team, so it’s had no impact on that company either. What I’m implying is that purchasing the team didn’t open any doors that weren’t open for the Edwards’ already. If they were to install products in Astor Park (don’t know if they’ve been contracted), the cash they’d receive would come nowhere near the amount of money that they’ve invested in the team. Also, they’ve been friends with the Pizutti’s for a really long time (it’s how the Haslam’s were connected with them), so may have received the Astor Park contract anyway providing the bid was fairly priced.
Just so there's no question about the Haslam's willingness to eat player salary money when they need to. Gazdag's salary is pocket change compared to this.
I wonder how much they force their teams to operate within their own books comes to play here. The massive money they are making from the Browns allows them quite a bit of flexibility to write off contracts. There is also the separation of ownership groups between teams. They currently own 100% of the Browns, but need approval from the Edward's and now Nationwide to take a greater loss for the Crew. As mentioned before, they are taking on some outside PE now for the Browns, but that is still a very small percentage.
Probably like Corporate America ... you get more investment after showing you have maximized what was first given. Which gets to why the Crew are a mess and raises the question of how long does Bez need to encourage Tall to leave his role or fire him. Buying out Gazdag is doable. Would Tall hit ... really hit ... on the replacement? If MLS teams spend 15 million more when the schedule flips ... will Tall spend in the right ways to catch up to MIA/NSH/CIN? Tall is lucky to still have his job, IMO. Only if Bez signs off on taking ownership of coaching him up would he get any dollars to spend.
Tall is not making any personnel decisions for the Crew ever again. I don't know why you think the Haslams and Edwards would pay a king's ransom to bring Tim back here just so he could sit and watch Issa continue running the flagship team into the ground. Bez is calling all the shots on the roster. He's doing his friend a favor by letting him stay in a do-nothing position instead of going on unemployment and COBRA. It's no different than a CEO creating a fake job to get his deadbeat son on the company payroll. Tall is just going to play solitaire on his desktop until Austin calls and offers him their GM position.
Dude ... you and KCBus literally get blinded by clutching pearls and outrage ... before you finish reading a post. Last graph: "Tall is lucky to still have his job, IMO. Only if Bez signs off on taking ownership of coaching him up would he get any dollars to spend." Why would Bez come back in a "Global" role, only to let Tall "play solitaire" until the phone rings for the Austin job (also, why would Queso Boy want a guy not even really working ... according to you?) Tall likely goes at season's end. But ... he's under 40 and the Haslams seem to know they are hard to work for. Staying and getting coached up more by Bez is smart business for both parties. Then he leaves with image rehabbed and Bez has the next Crew GM ready for seamless transition.
As I keep saying, it still very much remains to be seen whether Issa will go or not. Bez will make that call if needed or maybe Issa will decide to leave. Those that think he’ll instantly be sent packing are mistaken. IF Issa were to exit, Bez likes Chris Henderson (Atlanta) and Kurt Schmid (Sigi’s son at RSL). Please note the all caps IF ; ) .