Sports owners tend to stay out of the limelight. However, in this generation, there have been three major sports owners that always seemed to seek it. Al Davis and George Steinbrenner were two of them.
Al Davis was a great owner. He won 15 division championships, five AFC/AFL titles and three Super Bowls (XI, XV and XVIII). However, after the victory in Super Bowl XVII victory, their success was more like waves at the beach.
They would not reach the success of winning a Super Bowl. However, they would have back-to-back playoff runs in 1984-85, three in four years from '90-'93 and 3 consecutive from 2000-'02. In the non-postseason years after their Super Bowl victory they only had one winning season ('94), and since their Super Bowl appearance in 2002, they had their first season of at least .500 last season.
The Raiders were a roller-coaster ride throughout his tenure, but it was a fun ride while it lasted. He
lived by “Just win baby,” and the Raiders did that.
George Steinbrenner also seemed to love the spotlight, which shined much brighter in New York than in Oakland or Los Angeles. In his 24 years as owner, from 1973-2006, Steinbrenner won 14 American League East titles, 11 American League pennants and six World Series titles.
He also loved the mic. He was quoted once saying, “Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May.My big guys are not coming through. The guys who are supposed to carry the team are not carrying the team. They aren't producing. If I don't get big performances out of Winfield, Griffey and Baylor, we can't win.” (Murray Chases, NY Times)
The Yankees have seen some good things and bad things happen in those postseason runs. For the second time in team history they one four consecutive World Series titles, joining the Montreal Canadiens as the only franchise to achieve that milestone twice, and they became the first team two lose the first two home games of a best-of-five series and win that series.
However, they are the only team in sports history to lose a five-game and a seven-game series when have a 2-0 and 3-0 lead respectively. Also, they had a 13 season drought where they did not make the postseason (the 1994 postseason was cancelled due to the players' strike). It was their longest drought team history.
So, who is the better owner? Despite the up-and-down ride, the best owner of this generation is Davis.
This is because the model of revenue sharing drives the Nation Football League. The money that comes from television deals is equally split among the 32 NFL teams, unlike Steinbrenner and the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, and the NFL has had a salary cap in place since 1994. There is basically a free-spending model in baseball, even with the luxury tax threshold.
The postseason format is also different. In baseball a series is played which allows for the best team to win. In the single-game elimination format of the NFL Playoffs, the best team does not always win. So it is more difficult to win a title in the NFL.
There has been an equal playing field with regards to being able to sign free agents throughout the history of the NFL. Steinbrenner had the deepest pockets in baseball and was able to sign the best free agent for his teams.
So, this is why Al Davis was the better of the two owners in this generation.
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