What is a fair profit for an NFL owner?

[Patler]

If it is reasonable for Irsay to pay Peyton Manning $25 million/year, is it unreasonable for him to pay himself $40 million/year from the Colts? SHould he be satisfied with "only" $10 million?

[pbmax]

If it is reasonable for Irsay to pay Peyton Manning $25 million/year, is it unreasonable for him to pay himself $40 million/year from the Colts? SHould he be satisfied with "only" $10 million?

In many cases, it could be. I think the value owners place on their equity versus liquidity can be demonstrated by Ron Wolf. After he left the Packers, he would respond (publicly anyway, some have reported it was also his private answer intended to stop the overture) that he would consider another GM position if it came with a small owner/equity stake. Many teams would have opened the vault to hire a man with those pelts on the wall. No owners were willing to give an employee as important as Wolf a slice of the operation.

Cash on immediate hand is only one way to measure wealth or worth.

Chris Rock once made a joke that if Bill Gates woke up with Kobe Bryant's money, he would run to a window and throw himself out into his lake. Gates net worth is mostly tied (or perhaps was - its been a while since he left) to his equity in Microsoft, not simply his paychecks. And it is from that from which he has accumulated vast wealth. That is as it should be. He built and ran the company that generated that wealth. But that does not make Bryant worth less that his $25 million per year or so. Even if Bill is collecting "only" 1 or 2 million as a board member or CEO emeritus as a paycheck from Microsoft.