What It's Really Like to Own a Professional Sports Team

New York --You may think owning a professional sports team would be a dream come true. But what does it really take? David Checketts, owner of the professional hockey team St. Louis Blues, and Robb Heineman, co-owner of the professional soccer team Kansas City Wizards, open up their playbooks for FOXBusiness.com.

The Cost of Owning

The obvious and most restrictive reason most people don’t own a major league sports team is the cost. Not surprisingly, professional sports teams don’t come cheap.

“NHL prices are running anywhere from $200 million to $500 million and NFL is probably $600 million to $1.2 billion," said Checketts, a veteran key player in the professional sports world. His investment firm also owns Utah’s Real Salt Lake Major League Soccer team.

If it’s a burgeoning sport like soccer, the price tag may be lower -- say in the $35 to $45 million range -- but you’ll have to build a stadium which will run you another $50 to $100 million. “There’s a large need in our sport to invest in soccer specific stadiums,’’ said Heineman.

Allegiance to Your Team AND Business Skills

Loving the team you’re buying isn’t a prerequisite, but it does help. More important is having the business know how.

“If you want to own a team you better have some pretty good business experience and you better enjoy the game,” said Checketts. “The most effective owners are those who love their sports and love being a part of it.”

Heineman played soccer all his life, but admits the investment opportunity was the major draw to owning the Wizards.

“We weren’t massive professional soccer fans," said Heineman describing himself and his five other co-owners. “Once we dug into the sport … it made sense as an investment.”  

That’s not to say Heineman isn’t a fan of his team.  “You may not have the right motivation if you don’t live and die with your team,” he said.

But being a fan sometimes hurts, as almost any loyal fan can attest. The team owner experiences the same joys and disappointments of winning and losing.

Getting Down To Business

Owning a professional sports team requires a lot of restraint, especially if you are a fan. Playing Monday-morning quarterback at the office water cooler is OK for the average Joe, but a meddlesome owner is a recipe for disaster in the major leagues.

“Owners who find quality people to run the franchises are the most effective ones’’ said Checketts. “You give your guidance, direction and support.”

Checketts and Heineman said they aren’t involved in recruiting or coaching. They know what’s going on at all times, but leave the day-to-day operations up to the professionals.

They said they will step in if a player acts out in a way that may hurt the reputation of the franchise, which sadly has been the case more often than not in major league sports these days. One only has to look to Major League Baseballs’ steroids scandal for a reminder.

Checketts said he wouldn’t think twice about kicking a troublemaking player off the team, regardless of talent and ability level. The night before this current hockey season started, Checketts said he had the whole team over his house because he wanted to lay down the law. St. Louis is a conservative town and Checketts said he wants his players to act accordingly.

“I don’t care if it was a fight, or [just being] in a bar at 4:00 a.m., they’re not playing for us the next day,” said Checketts. “The players have to stay in line. These are young guys with lots of money and lots of time.” Checketts said thankfully he hasn’t had to deal with any incidents.

Still, an owner can never have complete control over the players. After all they are human. Checketts and Heineman said they realize there’s only so much they can control and have to make a judgment call on the players’ character.

“A lot of it is driven by who the athlete is,” said Heineman.

Premium Seating

Now for the fun part, watching the games. Well, maybe not.

Checketts and Heineman are known to work during games, trading their cushy sky boxes for normal stadium seats. Fans are as opinionated as they come, so watching a game with them can be worth a lot more than a market research study.

“I try to be out as much as I can talking to the people because that’s the best way to get a sense of what’s going on in the club,’’ said Heineman. “Fans are opinionated. You can figure out and adjust things.”

Checketts also said checking in with the fans is the best way to get feedback.

“I’ll go ask people all kinds of questions like, ‘How’s the food?, How’s the service behind the counter?’” said Checketts.

The Grass Is Always Greener

Sure it looks glamorous, but both agree there are highs and lows that come with owning a sports team that need to be kept in check.

“You just have to reasonable and have a long term approach," said Checketts, who in 2006 bought the then second worst NHL team. “You get addicted to winning and you get addicted to losing.”