by Patrick Thorman

Created on: May 06, 2008   Last Updated: May 07, 2008

Many times when successful businessmen shell out multiple millions of dollars to purchase professional sports franchises, something strange happens to these individuals. These powerful and otherwise intelligent men, who have regularly delegated authority to those with corresponding expertise, suddenly think of themselves as the best decision makers when it comes to intricate sports matters. This common misstep continues even today, despite mountains of evidence that display the extreme folly of this tactic. Perhaps it is the result of them feeling a need to control the direction of an asset that was quite expensive to acquire. More likely, it stems from an arrogance that develops within people of great power and wealth.

Owners reward the presidents and general managers in their employ with rich contracts and the power to shape the future of their franchises. More often than not, these managers have spent their entire professional careers within their sport gathering intimate knowledge of its ins and outs. However when the largest decisions need to be made, too often the most inexperienced person in the room has the final say. The owner makes the call. Why egomaniacal sports owners hire these experts, and then relegate them to mere highly paid advisors, is a key question and one that has direct bearing on if an owner will be successful over the long haul. There are examples of this strategy working out in the short term, but the small sample size of these instances points to this resulting more from luck than a sound organizational plan.

The George Steinbrenner era is often looked upon as an example of successful hands-on ownership. He took over the New York Yankees at a time when owners were naturally becoming more involved, because he came aboard during the advent of free agency. An owner with deep pockets who was willing to shell out big contracts could bring in the best talent. That's exactly what he did, most notably with slugging outfielder Reggie Jackson. They won two World Series titles in the late 1970's. However as the rest of the league adapted their approach in this new environment, and Steinbrenner continued his legendary meddling in baseball operations, the Yankees faded. They were a bad team with a bad developmental system when Steinbrenner was suspended from day to day baseball operations in 1990. Without George's interference, the "baseball people" as he so condescendingly called them, revamped the minor league system and built the base of what

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