For all you sports trivia buffs out there, what would cost the National Football League's New York Giants the equivalent of the following, according to the New York Daily News:
- Pay Eli Manning's $10 million salary for 30 years or
- Hire 38 wide receivers at Plaxico Burress' $7.87 million salary or
- Sign 274 running backs at Brandon Jacobs' $1.1 million salary
Continue reading below
Give up?. Well, the answer is the amount of $301.8 million, which the Daily News reports is what the football franchise is claiming bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. owes the team from a complex financing deal for its new stadium in the Meadowlands. The 2008 NFL champions allege they lost that amount after the investment bank filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15.
Now, although the amount in question is not nominal enough to halt construction of the stadium, which is expected to be finished by the spring of 2010, it is large enough to make some impact over the team's finances over the long haul. After all, the Giants payroll alone in 2008 is much less than half the amount it seeks at $115.8 million.
The Lehman Chapter 11 filing shows just how entangled its bankruptcy is on the U.S. economy, reaching places one may normally not think about like the NFL. But one has to wonder, with the global banking system still showing signs of duress and numerous financing deals for new stadiums around the country over the last couple of years seeming hazy at best, how many more financing deals are on the verge of falling through? And what impact would the failure of a bank connected to a sports franchise of lesser means have? - Gerald Magpily
