Inaugural Lecture of the Penn State Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research Features Arthur Rooney, President of the Pittsburgh Steelers
Penn State's Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research kicked off its inaugural lecture series April 20 with a special presentation by Arthur Rooney II, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rooney's lecture was the opening presentation for a two-part event, “Get in the Game: The Sports Business in America Today,” co-sponsored by Penn State's Dickinson School of Law, Smeal College of Business, and Curley Center for Sports Journalism. The event was held in Smeal's Struthers Family Auditorium on Penn State 's University Park campus.
In his lecture, titled “How Owners have Helped and Hurt the NFL in becoming America's Game,” Rooney explained that the NFL went through a long period of development before it became as what people refer to it as “America's game.”
With his unique perspective and qualifications — the Rooney family has owned the Steelers since the 1920s and Rooney spent two decades in the private practice of law before returning to the family business — Rooney discussed the early days of the NFL (“Remember the Pottsville Maroons?”) as well as its future challenges. His primary theme, though, was based on whether leagues such as the NFL thrive because of, or in spite of, important decisions being made by club owners who often act in the short-term interest of their own club, rather than the long-term interests of the league or the sports.
“In the NFL, you do have the opportunity to play very competitive teams every single year. Anything can happen in the NFL, I think that is one of the reasons why it has popularity,” Rooney said.
He continued by posing the question, “If you could change the way the NFL is organized, would you?”
“The NFL is organized into thirty-two separate businesses, but they come together under the NFL association, and collectively try to market their businesses. But at the end of the day, they really are thirty-two separate businesses,” said Rooney. “If you look at NASCAR, it is a single entity, owned by one owner who organizes the races all around the country. Some might say the NASCAR model is better.
“The other side of that coin, the organization of competitive events, like football, clearly suggests having two separate owners for organizing their teams and competing with one another, which brings out the best competition. If we want to present the most competitive game on the field, at the highest level, the way we are organized, at least from a competitive standpoint, is better than the model of having a single ownership entity. From a legal point of view, there are challenges to this form of organization that we will continue to face,” Rooney said.
Rooney's lecture was the first in a series, sponsored by the sports law institute, that will bring industry leaders to campus to discuss the economic structure of sports leagues. Current research at the institute, which is housed in Penn State's Dickinson School of Law, has raised questions about whether sporting competitions should be organized by owner-run leagues, as opposed to other ownership structures.
Rooney was named president of the Pittsburgh Steelers in May 2003. Prior to that, Rooney served as vice president and general counsel of the Steelers and has served on the board of directors since 1989. As part of his duties with the Steelers, Rooney was principally responsible for the design, development and financing plan for the Steelers' new stadium, Heinz Field. Rooney also serves on the Board of NFL Films, on the NFL's Super Bowl Site Committee, and on the NFL Management Council. Rooney remains of counsel to the law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, a corporate law firm. He is a 1978 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and received his law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1982.
The lecture inaugurated public events by the new Penn State Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research, which is directed by Stephen F. Ross, a professor of law at Penn State's Dickinson School of Law and one of the nation's leading sports law scholars. The institute is designed to promote dialogue between students of sport and major industry participants, aid scholars in policy-oriented research and facilitate the dissemination of this research to policy makers and industry participants, and to serve as a resource for journalists, lawyers and others connected about sports and public policy. Coincident with the event, the institute launched its new Web site, available at http://www.dsl.psu.edu/centers/sportsinstitute.cfm.
The institute is aided by an advisory board comprised of prominent industry leaders, sports scholars from around the world, and Penn State faculty and alumni, all dedicated to advancing the study of sports. The institute will be working closely with Penn State's John Curley Center for Sports and Journalism, the Smeal College of Business, and the Departments of Kinesiology and Statistics. In addition, the institute will facilitate inter-disciplinary work with a variety of sports-interested faculty on the Penn State campus.
Photo above shows Chris Bevilacqua (left), a principal at SCP Worldwide, which owns, among other things the St. Louis Blues and the Real Salt Lake MLS team. A Penn State grad, he founded and then sold CSTV. Arthur Rooney is in the center. Ernie Accorsi (right), just retired as GM of the New York Giants. He had been an executive with the Baltimore Ravens previously, and served a short time in the Penn State athletic department.
