NFL Owners Know How to Steal From the Rich

If you look at a business deal as a work of art, you’ve just witnessed the unveiling of a new Mona Lisa.

I’m as disappointed as anyone that the NFL didn’t award an expansion franchise to Los Angeles on Wednesday. But I stand in awe of the league owners, the barbarians at the goal line who manipulated Houston into paying more for a team than anyone outside their small circle could have imagined.

Paul Tagliabue’s picture should be on the billion dollar bill.

The actual price tag in Houston is $1.01 billion--$700 million for the team and $310 million for the stadium.

The $700-million franchise fee, $224 million more than Cleveland paid, is twice as much as the Houston owner, Bob McNair, believed he would have to pay when negotiations began. It is $75 million more than he seemed willing to pay only one week ago.

That was before Michael Ovitz declared that the NFL would award the franchise to him at Hollywood Park, a claim that was not discouraged by Tagliabue, acts that--probably unwittingly on Ovitz’s part--conspired to push McNair into making an offer that the owners could not refuse.

“These people are good business people who know a good proposal,” McNair said.

No, they are great business people.

Not only have they managed to increase the value of their own franchises by about three times in three years with deals in Cleveland, Washington and now Houston, their choice Wednesday means that the nation’s second-largest market is still available to be used for their own devices.

That could be to satisfy the Oakland Raiders in case they prevail in their legal argument that the L.A. territory still belongs to them. Or it could be to provide leverage for teams such as Arizona, Buffalo, Minnesota and New Orleans that are threatening to seek new homes unless they are better taken care of in their current ones.

As we know, Los Angeles is not an especially fertile market for an NFL team. But those cities don’t know that.

In the short term, the owners’ rejection of Los Angeles cost them little financially. The television networks say their NFL packages are worth the same with or without a team in Los Angeles, but even if they discover numbers that convince them otherwise, there probably will be a team here by the time the next contracts are negotiated in six years. The sales of NFL merchandise are down here, but I bet they’re up today in Houston.

All the decision Wednesday cost the NFL owners was good will in a market where they’re not very well liked anyway.

*

Unlike Cleveland, Houston doesn’t want its name back. . . .

“Oilers” belongs to Bud Adams. Although Houstonians spent more than a billion dollars for a new team, they’re not willing to pay the man who moved their old one to Nashville one cent for the name. . . .

Ricky Williams gained 84 yards in 21 carries Sunday despite a right elbow so sore that he had to shake with his left hand. . . .

But he wouldn’t accept compliments for a courageous effort. He said he was scared to play against the Chicago Bears but more scared to tell New Orleans Coach Mike Ditka that he couldn’t play. . . .

Liz Caplan, the daughter of boxing publicist Bill Caplan, is getting married Sunday to John Walls in Pacific Palisades. The minister is George Foreman. . . .

You repeat your vows to him, Liz says, you’d better keep them. . . .

The Dodgers might be able to find a taker for Eric Young in Anaheim. The Angels would like to have him as their second baseman and leadoff hitter if the Dodgers continue to pay part of his salary. . . .

When Terry Collins quit as the Angel manager, he became the special assistant to general manager Bill Bavasi. When Bavasi quit, he became the special assistant to President Tony Tavares. . . .

I guess that makes Collins the special assistant to the special assistant to Tavares. . . .

The Angels’ Todd Greene presented a $25,000 check Wednesday night from Propecia to the American Diabetes Organization of Orange County. That was his reward for winning a hair-raising contest this season over Sandy Alomar Jr., Gary Gaetti, Stan Javier, Bret Saberhagen, John Smoltz and Walt Weiss. . . .

I don’t know why anyone thought I would be interested in that note.

*

While wondering what Buck Showalter was thinking when he didn’t bring in Matt Mantei with the bases loaded in the ninth inning Tuesday night, I was thinking: I’ve never missed Vin Scully more than when listening to Chris Berman and Ray Knight; coaching geniuses Bill Parcells, Mike Shanahan and Jimmy Johnson don’t look so smart when their quarterbacks are lousy; I’m not sure if the Lakers are training for the basketball season or the Mt. SAC Relays.

*

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.