You don't think that he negotiates with his yacht crew for salaries? Or has his people get bids on repairs for the boat? Merely because his yacht is a luxury it does not follow that he does not want to control costs. He wants to maximize the pleasure he gets from the luxury while not overpaying for that pleasure. It's the exact same with the Blazers. If he can break even, awesome. If he can recover some of the tens of millions of dollars he's lost on the team over the last decade or two, that's preferable. Clearly. It doesn't mean that it's not a luxury. Ed O.
Here comes the tag team. Hilarious. He is not running his yacht as he is running the Blazers. I am 100% confident in saying this. The Blazers are being run as a business, and the team is mandated to break even so Allen doesn't have to continue to "subsidize" the team being in Portland. I also doubt that Allen personally negotiates with his yacht crew for their salaries, with the captain perhaps being the exception, although I hear deck swabbers make the same amount as NBA All-Stars.
Both are luxuries and in both cases he has to decide how much to invest in them. Sure, the Blazers have the difference of generating revenue, which helps defray the costs, but they're both the same in that they're luxuries that have operating expenses that he has to decide what to set them at. yuyuza's posts in this thread have been criticizing Allen. In that context, I was asking what his personal preferences about how to spend money have to do with those criticisms. He has already cleared it up and said it had nothing to do with his criticisms, simply an unrelated comment about himself.
Yes, poor you. Always the victim. Life must be really fucking difficult. Please remind me: who posted in this thread first, me or you? Who commented about yuyuza's yacht comment first, me or you? Who's tag-teaming whom? Stop being ridiculous. Whether he runs the yacht the same as the Blazers is irrelevant. No businessperson is going to pump millions of dollars into a venture to break even and then call it a good business model. EVEN IF the Blazers break even, he's tied up hundreds of millions of dollars that he could spend or invest elsewhere. The Blazers are a luxury for Paul Allen, irrespective of whether he tries to control costs or not. Who cares if he personally negotiates with them? I do not advocate him personally negotiating with Roy or Aldridge, either. He pays people quite well to manage salaries and contracts of the Blazers. Ed O.
Good point. The Blazers generate revenue as well. It makes your "luxury" comparison all the more invalid, IMO. Unless all businesses are rich men's luxuries, I suppose. Correct, and it was pretty obvious what he meant. I answered it prior to him replying, so at least one person understood without asking him to justify his opinion.
Right on cue! Exactly what I've been saying! It actually is relevant to the discussion you jumped in the middle of, though. Really? Seems odd to declare bankruptcy on a luxury, and then buy back that a big part of that luxury. Seems more like a business move. By the way, do you have a quote from Paul Allen saying the Blazers are a luxury to him, or are you just assuming that they are a luxury to him? You seem to care, since you stated he negotiates with them. You should have been more detailed in your post, I guess.
Businesses that aren't meant to be one's way of making money are luxuries, yes. Even "breaking even" is an opportunity cost, because that means all the money tied up in the Blazers can't be invested in something else that could earn him more money. So, yes, this is a luxury for him, even if he runs it like a business. I don't agree that it was clear. And you didn't answer it, you simply attacked me for asking why it was relevant to his point.
It's not relevant. Two luxuries can be treated quite differently. A yacht is handled differently than a diamond necklace. A diamond necklace is handled differently from an NBA team. That they are handled differently is irrelevant to one being a luxury, both being luxuries, or neither being luxuries. They are a luxury. Why would a smart businessman tie up hundreds of millions of dollars into a venture that he hopes to break even on? You added the "personally" adverb unnecessarily in your efforts to make a point. Ed O.
Well, that's certainly debatable. He could also invest close to a billion dollars in something that would make him less money, couldn't he? He could have invested it all in commercial real estate, I suppose. Would that make commercial real estate a luxury for him? He'd be losing money on that venture too, but oh well, it's a luxury. Ah, you're joining me in victimhood. What will Ed say?
Correct. One is being treated as a business, which it is. The other is being treated as a luxury. Because it beats losing money in this economy, as his market holdings are doing. Again, where did Paul Allen call the Blazers a "luxury"? Besides, he could sell them and make hundreds of millions at that moment. I've yet to see a sports franchise depreciate in value over the long-term. That's how I read it. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that the payroll for the yacht is a fraction of the payroll for the Blazers.
That wouldn't be his expectation, though, to make less money if he were investing for profit. Being willing to break even points to not needing a profit, which makes it a luxury. But I really AM a victim. No one's victimized you, you victimizer. Poor me.
It's a business...it's a luxury.....it's a hobby....it's an obsession....it's a sexual fethish.... Sorry, but this is getting rather silly. You can label the process whatever you like - won't change the facts. Roy is in a no lose position, as *somebody* is going to make him very rich. Allen is in an almost no lose situation, as he winds up with either a winning team (more revenue), or a lower pay-roll (easier to make a profit). The only people who could wind up losers here are the fans. When you accept that, it is tough to be too hard on the fans who are getting worked up. Personally, I think it is too early to be getting upset, but I also refuse to pretend that this can't turn out REAL bad for Blazer fans.
How do you know what his expectations are for the Blazers? Yes, lowly posters victimize the producers here. You made a statement I don't agree with, and I still don't agree with it, so I am doing as I have learned from this board.
Because he has apparently mandated that the team "break even." Requesting that the franchise strive to break even seems to speak to his expectations concerning team finances. Please stop attacking posters here by calling them "lowly."
They can also end up "winners," if saving money on Roy and Aldridge means being able to spend more on other elements of team, leading to a better team.
That's what I've been saying. However, a positive outcome seems to be something that certain people don't want to believe is possible.
The weird thing to me is that it isn't just "possible" that there will be a positive outcome; it's almost certain. Even if the Blazers don't reach an agreement with Roy & LA before the start of the season, they will be in a position to either reach an agreement next summer or match any offers made for them as RFAs. There's no credibility at all to the idea that these guys would take the qualifying offer, play it out for one year...with total exposure to losing millions of guaranteed dollars should they be injured during that season...just to take a dive into the unrestricted market the season after everybody's spent their money on next summer's crop of free agents.
