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City Paper: "Snyder: Hunter, Gatherer, Ruiner"


Horatio

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I think Six Flags was kind of in a mess when he bought the company. Maybe he didn't save them. Maybe he made some of the problems worse. The major downturn in the economy certainly didn't help.

But I don't think one can say he was totally or even mostly at fault for "ruining" Six Flags.

Unfortunately, he's responsible for the shareholders and investors, and he's failed them greatly. It's like saying it's not Richard Syron's fault for what happened to Freddie Mac just because he got in at a bad time.

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Unfortunately, he's responsible for the shareholders and investors, and he's failed them greatly. It's like saying it's not Richard Syron's fault for what happened to Freddie Mac just because he got in at a bad time.
There's plenty of blame to spread around, I just think you can pin everything on Snyder. That being said, he's no less guilty either.
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I think Six Flags was kind of in a mess when he bought the company. Maybe he didn't save them. Maybe he made some of the problems worse. The major downturn in the economy certainly didn't help.

But I don't think one can say he was totally or even mostly at fault for "ruining" Six Flags.

Are you kidding? The stock price went to $11 shortly after the little midget bought Six Flags, and now it's essentially less than a penny stock - in fact it's worthless. Snyder also talked some of his employees into helping foot the bill for his investment in Six Flags, so now they're S out of luck too.

This should help put further to rest the myth that the li'l guy is an impressive businessman - much like another local icon, Steve Case, our cute li'l owner stumbled onto a good idea once, a long time ago, and he has parlayed that into a rep far bigger than he deserves. Yes, the Skins have been a highly profitably entity since he bought the team, but he accomplishes this by fleecing a far-too loyal fanbase for everything they are worth. A blind, incontinent monkey could make money running the Redskins - it's a win-thirsty fanbase that will literally pay for anything as long as it has the team's logo emblazoned on it (lottery tickets!!!!). And every year we come back for more.

There have been rumblings among certain wealthy circles that the Redskins are quietly on the market - not actively looking to sell, but open to a big offer. Let's hope this news about Six Flags perhaps hastens the day when our adorably tiny owner must loosen his vise-like grip on the Redskins, and a once-proud franchise can return to its glory days under more honorable leadership.

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Are you kidding? The stock price went to $11 shortly after the little midget bought Six Flags' date=' and now it's essentially less than a penny stock - in fact it's worthless. Snyder also talked some of his employees into helping foot the bill for his investment in Six Flags, so now they're S out of luck too.

This should help put further to rest the myth that the li'l guy is an impressive businessman - much like another local icon, Steve Case, our cute li'l owner stumbled onto a good idea once, a long time ago, and he has parlayed that into a rep far bigger than he deserves. Yes, the Skins have been a highly profitably entity since he bought the team, but he accomplishes this by fleecing a far-too loyal fanbase for everything they are worth. A blind, incontinent monkey could make money running the Redskins - it's a win-thirsty fanbase that will literally pay for anything as long as it has the team's logo emblazoned on it (lottery tickets!!!!). And every year we come back for more.

There have been rumblings among certain wealthy circles that the Redskins are quietly on the market - not actively looking to sell, but open to a big offer. Let's hope this news about Six Flags perhaps hastens the day when our adorably tiny owner must loosen his vise-like grip on the Redskins, and a once-proud franchise can return to its glory days under more honorable leadership.[/quote']Six Flags was worth crap when he bought it. Yeah, he didn't do a good job with it, and it tanked even worse. So he bought poo and made into worse poo. So what? It's still poo.

I'd also like to hear who these "sources" are. :rolleyes:

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There have been rumblings among certain wealthy circles that the Redskins are quietly on the market - not actively looking to sell' date=' but open to a big offer. Let's hope this news about Six Flags perhaps hastens the day when our adorably tiny owner must loosen his vise-like grip on the Redskins, and a once-proud franchise can return to its glory days under more honorable leadership.[/quote']

I call shenanigans. First and foremost, Snyder is a fan. Secondly, the Redskins are a cash cow for him. Why in the world would he consider selling? And what makes you think that selling it to somebody else would automatically make anything better. Snyder spends money on this team. There are a lot of rich owners in this league who are a lot tighter with their wallets.

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I call shenanigans. First and foremost, Snyder is a fan. Secondly, the Redskins are a cash cow for him. Why in the world would he consider selling? And what makes you think that selling it to somebody else would automatically make anything better. Snyder spends money on this team. There are a lot of rich owners in this league who are a lot tighter with their wallets.
Because his hatred for Snyder is greater than his logic.
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It's illogical to think that if Snyder sold the team it would improve?

Until he has an extended period of self control (resisting high-priced free agents) I'll continue to believe that it's logical to believe that things would get better if Snyder was to sell the team.

Grass is always greener on the other side, right?

You can assume you'd get a better owner, but no one has any idea until if and when it happens.

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Grass is always greener on the other side, right?

You can assume you'd get a better owner, but no one has any idea until if and when it happens.

There's very little place to go but up. If they get a worse owner, he or she won't be much worse.

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I think it has become very clear that Snyder caught lightning in a bottle in the mid 1990s tech boom, took advantage of it (to his credit) cashed in at the right time (selling Snyder Communications in late 1999) and purchasing one of the best investments in sports (the Washington Redskins)

Other then that, this guy has failed miserably in business, prior to Snyder communications with his magazine, and after the purchase of the Redskins with just about anything he has touched.

The guy is certainly bold and a risk taker, but many of his business moves outside of the Redskins have not panned out. But he hit it real big once, and thats why he is in charge

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Other then that, this guy has failed miserably in business, prior to Snyder communications with his magazine, and after the purchase of the Redskins with just about anything he has touched.

He took a franchise that was not the most profitable in the NFL and made it into the most profitable in all of sports. I'd say that's pretty good business sense whether you agree with some of his moves or not. His other ventures may not be successful but I wouldn't say he's a terrible business man.

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He took a franchise that was not the most profitable in the NFL and made it into the most profitable in all of sports. I'd say that's pretty good business sense whether you agree with some of his moves or not. His other ventures may not be successful but I wouldn't say he's a terrible business man.

Ummm, the Redskins was ranked the #2 most valuable sports franchise in 1998. The Redskins was ranked the #2 most valuable sports franchise in 2008.

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I think it has become very clear that Snyder caught lightning in a bottle in the mid 1990s tech boom, took advantage of it (to his credit) cashed in at the right time (selling Snyder Communications in late 1999) and purchasing one of the best investments in sports (the Washington Redskins)

Other then that, this guy has failed miserably in business, prior to Snyder communications with his magazine, and after the purchase of the Redskins with just about anything he has touched.

The guy is certainly bold and a risk taker, but many of his business moves outside of the Redskins have not panned out. But he hit it real big once, and thats why he is in charge

:hysterical: Yeah, other than all that stuff. :hysterical:

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I think it has become very clear that Snyder caught lightning in a bottle in the mid 1990s tech boom, took advantage of it (to his credit) cashed in at the right time (selling Snyder Communications in late 1999) and purchasing one of the best investments in sports (the Washington Redskins)

Other then that, this guy has failed miserably in business, prior to Snyder communications with his magazine, and after the purchase of the Redskins with just about anything he has touched.

The guy is certainly bold and a risk taker, but many of his business moves outside of the Redskins have not panned out. But he hit it real big once, and thats why he is in charge

Right on all counts if you ask me. Good post

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I call shenanigans. First and foremost, Snyder is a fan. Secondly, the Redskins are a cash cow for him. Why in the world would he consider selling? And what makes you think that selling it to somebody else would automatically make anything better. Snyder spends money on this team. There are a lot of rich owners in this league who are a lot tighter with their wallets.

The Redskins make money that helps keep his other failing and flagging businesses going, that's true. But consider that Snyder bought the team for $800 million about a decade ago, and the team is now valued at $1.5 billion in the latest Forbes rankings. That pretty much doubles the investment for Snyder and his partners - given the state of the economy, the team's value will not be going up anytime soon. If there are financial pressures on his other businesses - and there clearly are - THIS would be the time to cash out. Again, I am not saying he wants to sell, or that he is in a position that he'll be forced to sell - just saying that I have heard from reliable sources of information that it is certainly NOT out of the realm of possibility that Snyder could sell the team should the right attractive offer come along. Call Shenanigans all you want - I really don't give a flip.

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Ummm, the Redskins was ranked the #2 most valuable sports franchise in 1998. The Redskins was ranked the #2 most valuable sports franchise in 2008.

The redskins were worth 403 million in 1998 and are valued at over 1.1 billion today. Fact remains Snyder almost tripled the franchises worth since '98. You don't do that with crappy business skills.

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The redskins were worth 403 million in 1998 and are valued at over 1.1 billion today. Fact remains Snyder almost tripled the franchises worth since '98. You don't do that with crappy business skills.

Didn't he pay something like $800m for the team... ? Basically, he paid almost twice what it was worth, if it was worth $403m in '98.

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Didn't he pay something like $800m for the team... ? Basically, he paid almost twice what it was worth, if it was worth $403m in '98.

I guess, but are you saying that you would not pay double what something was worth if you knew you could triple the value and make a profit of $400 million? I mean to me an additional $400 million is a lot of money.

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The redskins were worth 403 million in 1998 and are valued at over 1.1 billion today. Fact remains Snyder almost tripled the franchises worth since '98. You don't do that with crappy business skills.

That's like saying Wade Phillips is a good coach because he had a better record than Bill Parcells. Not to mention the value of the Redskins became inflated AFTER Dan Snyder paid $750M to buy the team.

$750M to $1100M is pretty much in line with the rate of inflation.

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I guess, but are you saying that you would not pay double what something was worth if you knew you could triple the value and make a profit of $400 million? I mean to me an additional $400 million is a lot of money.

Not really. If that's the case, then his "investment" has really barely grown 50% because he paid twice as much as it was worth to begin with, plus he has had a few stinkers since then. Ultimately, that's not much over 10 years, taking inflation into account.

Where did you get the 1998 figure?

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I guess, but are you saying that you would not pay double what something was worth if you knew you could triple the value and make a profit of $400 million? I mean to me an additional $400 million is a lot of money.

Is he doing anything differently than any other NFL owner in that regard? Any high profile NFL team is worth in the neighborhood of a billion dollars right now. The Redskins are worth more because they own their own stadium. But that also makes their operating expenses more expensive.

Snyder has added value in the sense that he is shameless in squeezing his fanbase for every penny they have. But there are indications that he may have reached the pulp.

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Not really. If that's the case, then his "investment" has really barely grown 50% because he paid twice as much as it was worth to begin with, plus he has had a few stinkers since then. Ultimately, that's not much over 10 years, taking inflation into account.

Where did you get the 1998 figure?

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-695194.html

I guess I'll just disagree. The point that was to be made here is that the OP that I quoted (SkinsHokieFan) claimed that besides snyder communications which was sold before the tech bubble burst, Snyder has "Failed Miserably in business". Taking a team valued at $403 million and turning it into a 1.1-1.2 billion franchise is not failing miserably in business. At least according to my standards. Maybe mine are low I dunno.

* Edit, actually Forbes has the Redskins valued at 1.5 billion http://www.scoresreport.com/tag/forbes-10-most-valuable-sports-franchises/ A difference of $700 million from the $800 million figure he paid in '98.

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Here is some logic for you since it seems to have escaped a bunch of people that say Snyder should sell the team.

Wrong.

Synder needs to hire capable FOOTBALL minds to run things, then sit back and reap the benefits. He needs to stay hands off in all aspects of football operations. He needs to FIRE Vinny, that bug eyed BAFOON, and hire a true GM. Allow the GM to hire the coach, etc on down the line.

Then, and only then will he be immune from all this other talk. So what if businesses fail. That happens all the time. The people that succeed in this world keep on trying. I give him props for that.

Thumbs down on running the Redskins :)

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http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-695194.html

I guess I'll just disagree. The point that was to be made here is that the OP that I quoted (SkinsHokieFan) claimed that besides snyder communications which was sold before the tech bubble burst, Snyder has "Failed Miserably in business". Taking a team valued at $403 million and turning it into a 1.1-1.2 billion franchise is not failing miserably in business. At least according to my standards. Maybe mine are low I dunno.

* Edit, actually Forbes has the Redskins valued at 1.5 billion http://www.scoresreport.com/tag/forbes-10-most-valuable-sports-franchises/ A difference of $700 million from the $800 million figure he paid in '98.

Here is the point

The Redskins mint money with the most loyal fan base in the world (and best fan base in the world)

He owns the stadium. He just figured out ways to get us to pay more, along with the fact the NFL TV deal has increased and the NFL makes a ton of money from NFL Network

You or I could have figured out more ways to charge fans more money in different ways (tailgate club, dream seats, 40 dollar parking etc)

Color me unimpressed by making money off the Redskins

I am talking about his other business ventures. His magazine in the early 90s failed and he was 3 million in debt

He catches lightning in a bottle by basically setting up a company, which bought other companies, leveraged that value, and sold out at the peak of the tech boom.

That is to his credit, for a) knowing what to do with buying multmillion dollar businesses and B) recognizing when to sell out and cash his chips in

Since then Six Flags has failed. ESPN radio is meh. The thing with Tom Cruise-meh. Johnny Rockets?

Its not really a good record for him. But to his credit, he hit it big time once and is able to utilize that wealth for other risks

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