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Florio Thinks Rooneys Value Stability Above All Else: ‘Dangling That Carrot’ So Fans ‘Open The Wallets’

Mike Florio

Plenty of people are fed up with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team has actually made the postseason in four of the last five seasons yet has done nothing in the playoffs. Pressure is building on the franchise, with the fan base hoping Art Rooney II’s Steelers can start to change the tide. However, some are starting to question whether the leaders in the organization are taking yet another wild-card loss as serious as they should be, specifically Mike Tomlin.

Jim Rooney, Art Rooney’s brother, appeared on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast on Tuesday. He acknowledged that the Steelers would like to be more successful in the playoffs than they have been in recent memory. He also noted that the Steelers are still ‘outperforming the “mean” compared to the rest of the NFL. That comment has ruffled some feathers.

While appearing on 93.7 The Fan, Mike Florio said that although the Steelers aren’t winning playoff games, the Rooney family might not be that unhappy with how things are going.

“Every team wants to have more money in than money out, every single year,” Florio said Wednesday. “That’s where the business creeps in. So if you have a team that competes through the regular season and the postseason every year, you’re going to be profitable. You’re gonna be a popular team locally because every year you’re dangling that carrot just enough to get people to open their wallets.”

Owning an NFL team is one of the most lucrative investments anybody could make. Owning one of the most iconic teams in North American sports, like the Steelers, is even more promising financially. Especially when that team competes for the playoffs every year.

Florio mentions that the Steelers are “dangling that carrot” for fans. The 2024 season might be the best example of that. Pittsburgh was being touted as a Super Bowl contender just two months ago and held a firm lead in the AFC North. The five-game losing streak the season ended on is well known. Still, the Steelers lost brutal games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals at home in front of raucous crowds during that stretch. After getting the fans hopes up, the team collapsed in a fashion that’s become much too familiar.

Florio talked about the difference between the Steelers’ situation and other teams around the league.

“That’s long-term financial success and stability,” Florio said. “Especially for a team owned by a family whose primary revenue comes, not from the oil and gas trade, not from the tech industry…This is the gravy train. So it becomes important for family-owned teams to be profitable, and they found a formula for being profitable. Outperform the mean.”

The idea of blowing it up and starting a rebuild has become more popular among Steelers fans. Florio mentions one reason the Steelers might be hesitant to do that. The Rooneys’ income does come primarily from the franchise. A losing season, one which would net a high draft pick, could be less appealing. Even if the other outcome results in more 10-7 seasons ending in the AFC Wild Card Round.

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