Financially, however, they're not even close.
The Jazz's red ink exceeded $10 million last season, owner Larry Miller told The Salt Lake Tribune - and approaches $25 million over the past two seasons.
"We're losing a lot of money. Huge numbers," Miller said of the team he has owned for 21 seasons. "Blow-your-mind numbers."
"The past couple of years have hurt us, big time," Miller admitted. "It's painful."
But it's self-inflicted pain, said the Jazz owner, who estimates that only "eight or nine" of the 30 NBA teams lost money last season. And he believes it's only a short-term problem.
Miller authorized a quarter-billion dollars in long-term contracts to Jazz players during the summer of 2004, including $86 million to Andrei Kirilenko, $68 million to Carlos Boozer, and $50 million to Mehmet Okur. By doing so, Miller hoped eventually to return the team to championship contention - but he also nearly doubled his payroll within two seasons.
And it's not a decision he regrets. "Being competitive on the floor is important to us, and we believe we are headed in the right direction," Miller said. "You have to be smart about it, and I think we have been. This [loss], it's an eight-digit number. . . . But it's something we were prepared for."
One way they prepared was by banking an enormous profit, equal to or larger than this year's loss, during the 2003-04 season, when their actual payroll outlay fell below $30 million. Meanwhile, the team collected a $10 million cut of Charlotte's $300 expansion fee to join the league, plus roughly $15 million in "luxury taxes" and rebates from players under the league's collective-bargaining agreement. All that before selling a ticket.
In fact, it shouldn't be too long before the cycle swings the Jazz's way again. Season-ticket renewals, fueled by the Jazz's strong April, have been excellent, Jazz president Dennis Haslam said, and the team has sold an additional 1,100 seats.
Then there is the luxury tax, which takes money from teams that overspend and distributes it among teams that don't. The Jazz have carefully kept themselves in the latter group, and therefore benefit when teams like the Knicks - whose $120 million-plus payroll dwarfs Utah's - keep collecting big contracts.
The Jazz aren't the only team in town operating in the red. The Blaze, Utah's Arena Football League expansion team, will lose about $2.5 million this year, according to sources with knowledge of the team's finances.
And Real Salt Lake, in its second Major League Soccer season, will operate at a $3.7 million loss this summer, according to RSL projections.
The NBA is believed to be mostly profitable, though there are exceptions.
The Memphis Grizzlies, for example, are believed to have lost more than $30 million last season.
Forbes magazine, in its annual franchise valuations last winter, figured that 10 NBA teams lost money in 2004-'05, led by Portland's estimated $31.5 million bath. On the other hand, Phoenix ($44.4 million), the Los Angeles Lakers ($38.2 million) and Chicago ($34.7 million) all cleared $30 million in profits, the magazine calculated.
Miller said his team is far better able to sustain losses. For one thing, the franchise is worth $300 million or more, an enormous gain from Miller's original $20 million purchase price.
Most importantly, Haslam said, it's also just one enterprise in Miller's portfolio, an empire that includes 35 auto dealerships, a financing company, restaurants, theaters and the Delta Center.
pmiller@sltrib.com
