Oakland Raiders: Who Is That Stick That Makes Bitter Water Sweet?

There is a story about Israel. They traveled and arrived at a place called Marah. In that place the water was bitter. It seems that the Oakland Raiders have arrived at a place called "Marah."

When we glance at some of the financial data and rankings, we can perceive that the Oakland Raiders have arrived at their "Marah" in the history of the team. It is that place where the waters are bitter, and here are examples of that bitterness.

The value of the Oakland Raiders franchise ranks 32 out of 32 NFL teams. That is a bitter fact for Oakland's "Moses," Al Davis.

A franchise which was worth $861 million in 2008 is now worth about $797 million in 2009. The value of the Oakland Raiders franchise declined in the amount of $64 million.

Comparing the Oakland Raiders with a select number of teams that they defeated in 2009 gives us a bit more insight on the "poor boy" team matched with the wealthier teams at this point in history.

Bengals   941   3   13   205   22

Broncos 1061 7    14   226   18.6

Steelers 1015 9    10   216   14.4

Raiders    861 6    6    205    27.0

The first column lists the current value of the team in millions of dollars. The second column list the one-year value change. The third column lists the Debt/Value as a percentage. The fourth column lists the Revenue. Finally, the fifth column lists the Operating Income.

A more complete display of data on the lower end of the ranking by Forbes yields:

Rank	Team	Current Value ($mil)	1-Yr Value Change (%)	Debt/Value (%)	Revenue ($mil)	Operating Income ($mil)
17	Kansas City Chiefs	1,016	6	13	214	11.9
18	Pittsburgh Steelers	1,015	9	10	216	14.4
19	Seattle-Seahawks_309349.html">Seattle Seahawks	1,010	10	12	215	8.9
20	Tennessee-Titans_308897.html">Tennessee Titans	994	8	13	216	24.5
21	Cincinnati-Bengals_306869.html">Cincinnati Bengals	941	3	11	205	22.0
22	New Orleans Saints	937	10	13	213	21.5
23	St Louis Rams	929	2	6	206	26.4
24	Detroit Lions	917	5	38	204	-3.1
25	Arizona-Cardinals_309893.html">Arizona Cardinals	914	3	16	203	19.7
26	San Diego Chargers	888	7	11	207	19.0
27	Buffalo Bills	885	8	11	206	12.4
28	Jacksonville-Jaguars_306892.html">Jacksonville Jaguars	876	8	13	204	27.6
29	Atlanta-Falcons_300786.html">Atlanta Falcons	872	10	31	203	30.9
30	San Francisco 49ers	865	8	12	201	4.1
31	Oakland Raiders	861	6	6	205	27.0
32	Minnesota Vikings	839	7	38	195	18.9

Many observations can be made; the one that I want to point out is that the Raiders' performance on the field, a few times, outshined the performance of their portfolio.

There are even more observations in the financial realm which contribute to the bitter experiences of the Oakland Raiders in the past seven years.

Most folks realize that the value of a thing often is an indicator of the quality of the performance of that thing. Granted, the franchise value is lower than 2008; yet the performance as measured by some parameters was about the same for 2009 and 2008.

Who can turn this situation around, upside down, and get us off the ground? Is the motto, "Keep Cable and hope to become stable."

Is it, "Bench Russell 'til he builds up true muscle."

Or is it, "Play ball, make some money, 'cause this bitter stage we are in ain't funny."

Al Davis needs to hear as Moses heard. He needs to find that "tree or stick," toss it into our bitter situation, and expect a miracle of sweet victories in 2010. Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders need to deal with the bittersweet situation that they find themselves in financially in 2010.

It's the Oakland Raiders "Marah" that needs to be transformed from bitter to sweet.