Financial World

Worth $182 million, the Eagles are the fifth-most-valuable franchise in sports, according to the May 9 issue of Financial World magazine. Jeffrey Lurie bought the NFL team from Norman Braman in May 1994 for $185 million. In 1994, the magazine put the Eagles' value at $172 million. "I haven't read the story yet, so it's difficult to react," said Jeffrey Auerbach, the Eagles' vice president for business development. "But I think what Financial World is saying is that they recognize that we are operating in a very aggressive manner and we're trying to be visionary in that respect, both on and off the field.

Movie producers are always looking for a hot property, and new Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has found one of the hottest, according to an annual survey of sports franchise values done by a business magazine. In a survey released this week, Financial World magazine ranked the Eagles as the third-most-valuable franchise in professional sports, with an open- market value of $172 million. Lurie agreed to pay $185 million to purchase the team from Norman Braman. The sale is still pending league approval.

The Philadelphia Eagles may have had a lousy season, but the value of the team increased by 6 percent last year. That's according to New York-based Financial World magazine which this week released the results of its fifth annual sports-team valuation survey. Staffers surveyed the financial standings of 107 teams nationwide and found that, overall, values had increased by 8.1 percent this year. The Eagles, which according to Financial World is the nation's fifth-most- valuable sports franchise, is worth $182 million.

How much is a pro football team worth? The bottom line, of course, is that it's valued the same way everything else is: It's worth what people are willing to pay for it. So if film producer Jeffrey Lurie wants to ante up $185 million for the Philadelphia Eagles, $25 million more than has ever been paid for a football team, maybe that's what it's worth. A cool $185 million may seem like an awful lot of money, but people who study the business side of professional sports franchises say values have been moving up fast, and will continue to do so. "Values are clearly moving in that direction," said Timothy Mueller, the director of sports-industry consulting for the KPMG Peat Marwick, the consulting and accounting firm.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly how much Norman Braman has profited from his nine-year ownership of the Eagles, sports industry watchers said yesterday. Sure, it's obvious he virtually tripled a $65 million investment when he agreed to sell the team yesterday to Hollywood producer Jeffrey Lurie for a reported $185 million. But there also are all the profits the team earned along the way as well. "It would be hard to say," said Alan Friedman, publisher of Chicago-based Team Marketing Report, which follows the sports industry.

Tired of what's happened to professional sports? Can't bear to hear any more about salary caps, owners' rights vs. players' rights and arbitration? Financial World magazine believes it has some solutions to re-focus sports on the action, rather than the inaction of so many recent, closed-door meetings. In its first all-sports issue, on sale this week, Financial World calls for all players to become free agents at the end of their contracts, lifting of salary caps and minimums, abolishing salary arbitration and player drafts and allowing teams to move at will.

OUT OF THE CELLAR What city would even admit, let alone cheer, finishing 29th in a survey of the financial condition of 30 cities? Well, Philadelphia might. Considering that the city was dead last by a mile in the 1992 survey by Financial World magazine. As Mayor Rendell was taking over a year ago, the business weekly made this blunt assessment of the city's fortunes: "Nowhere to go but up. Budgeting atrocious; revenue estimates overly optimistic . . . reserves nonexistent.

1992 was a good news/bad news year for Eagles owner Norman Braman. The bad news was his football team lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC semifinals. The good news was it again increased in value. The Eagles, which Braman purchased for $65 million just eight years ago, now are worth a whopping $149 million, according to Financial World magazine. The magazine recently conducted its third annual survey of the value of professional sports franchises. That $149 million price tag placed the Eagles as the fifth most valuable team in all of pro sports, according to the magazine, behind only the Dallas Cowboys ($165 million)

The 10 highest-paid Wall Street professionals made an average of between $66.5 million and $69.5 million each in 1986, with investment banker Michel David-Weill topping them all at $125 million, according to estimates by Financial World magazine. The magazine said yesterday that the average salary of the top 10 was up by $17.7 million over 1985, thanks to a record stock-market rally and a large number of corporate mergers and acquisitions. Financial World, in a story for its July 14 issue, compiled a list of what it believes to be the 100 highest-paid Wall Street professionals, who include executives, investment bankers, money managers and traders.

New Jersey was ranked 37th among the states, below West Virginia and Arkansas, for the way it manages taxpayer funds in a new magazine survey released yesterday. Financial World magazine contends that New Jersey, along with several other states, is close enough to the edge to have significant financial problems, should the economy suffer another downturn or should the federal government slash aid to the state. The survey results were disputed by Carl Golden, a spokesman for Gov. Whitman, who pointed out that Moody's Investor Services and other rating agencies have given the state high financial ratings.

A cigar-chomping executive has a big grin on his face. Holding the lapels of his suit, he exclaims: "You're GAY!!! . . . Well, I'm feeling quite happy myself. " The cigar man is part of a series of humorous ads that began appearing in national publications last month. This ad, first seen in the Wall Street Journal, is not a typical way to advertise financial services, but its sponsor, gfn.com, is not trying to communicate a typical message. Gfn is the Gay Financial Network, a two-year-old New York-based Web site aimed at the gay and lesbian community.

Derek Carr and David Lipkin met Wednesday afternoon after lunch, read e-mail from a client who wanted to transfer her money to a different stock fund, and set about choosing which stocks to put into their mutual funds. "Let's not do all Hershey, let's do 20 percent Hershey. Quaker Oats went up a quarter," said Lipkin, consulting the day's stock quotes. "Forget Tootsie Roll. They went down a quarter," Carr responded. "So? You buy low and sell high," said Lipkin. "Tootsie Roll.

Eagles owner Jeff Lurie and Phillies president Bill Giles say they need new stadiums and increased revenues to field competitive teams. But, according to Financial World magazine, those issues are not deflating their value. Both teams are worth millions more than they were last year. The Eagles are the eighth-most valuable sports franchise in the country. "Stocks and bonds are not the only investments enjoying bull markets. The values of a large number of sports franchises have swelled in technology-like fashion," the magazine reported in its annual appraisal of sports franchise values, released yesterday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday that the economy was improving and that inflation looked like less of a threat now than it did early this year. His comments to the Senate Banking Committee suggested that the Fed might not cut interest rates when its policymaking committee meets Tuesday. Greenspan attributed part of the economic gains to strong increases in financial market values this year. These advances, he said, are likely to provide substantial support to household and business spending.

New Jersey was ranked 37th among the states, below West Virginia and Arkansas, for the way it manages taxpayer funds in a new magazine survey released yesterday. Financial World magazine contends that New Jersey, along with several other states, is close enough to the edge to have significant financial problems, should the economy suffer another downturn or should the federal government slash aid to the state. The survey results were disputed by Carl Golden, a spokesman for Gov. Whitman, who pointed out that Moody's Investor Services and other rating agencies have given the state high financial ratings.

The Philadelphia Eagles may have had a lousy season, but the value of the team increased by 6 percent last year. That's according to New York-based Financial World magazine which this week released the results of its fifth annual sports-team valuation survey. Staffers surveyed the financial standings of 107 teams nationwide and found that, overall, values had increased by 8.1 percent this year. The Eagles, which according to Financial World is the nation's fifth-most- valuable sports franchise, is worth $182 million.

Worth $182 million, the Eagles are the fifth-most-valuable franchise in sports, according to the May 9 issue of Financial World magazine. Jeffrey Lurie bought the NFL team from Norman Braman in May 1994 for $185 million. In 1994, the magazine put the Eagles' value at $172 million. "I haven't read the story yet, so it's difficult to react," said Jeffrey Auerbach, the Eagles' vice president for business development. "But I think what Financial World is saying is that they recognize that we are operating in a very aggressive manner and we're trying to be visionary in that respect, both on and off the field.

The Montreal Expos pulled off baseball's biggest miracle last year. In one of the majors' smallest markets, with the next to the lowest payroll, they built the winningest team. According to Financial World magazine, they even made a profit. And they did it though they lacked any identifiable superstars. Economically, high-priced stars rarely earn enough extra income to justify their salaries, or enough extra games on the field to clinch pennants. Most of the biggest stars are not clutch players.

Tired of what's happened to professional sports? Can't bear to hear any more about salary caps, owners' rights vs. players' rights and arbitration? Financial World magazine believes it has some solutions to re-focus sports on the action, rather than the inaction of so many recent, closed-door meetings. In its first all-sports issue, on sale this week, Financial World calls for all players to become free agents at the end of their contracts, lifting of salary caps and minimums, abolishing salary arbitration and player drafts and allowing teams to move at will.

Julian Valtierra Segovia bought a new Volkswagen Jetta last year for $19,500. He does not know the interest rate on the loan. He just knows that he pays the bank $606 a month. Valtierra also has auto insurance, a rarity in Mexico because Monterrey is the only city where it is mandatory. He has neglected to tell the insurance company that he uses the car as a taxi. Even so, his premium comes to $1,207 every six months. What's worse, Valtierra knows that his two brothers pay much less for their car, their loan and their insurance.