NFHell: Denise Debartolo York and Jeffrey Lurie

Zero Sum Empire

I checked Twitter while I was writing these show notes and noticed that today—the very day we are releasing an episode about two billionaire NFL owners—the Washington Reds***s have announced that they are “conducting a study” that will likely end up with them changing the team name. Almost simultaneously, the NFL announced that it would play Life Every Voice and Sing (also known as the Black national anthem) prior to week #1 games, resulting in a bunch of reactionary psychos getting #BoycottNFL trending on Twitter. Unfortunately, we recorded this episode a couple days ago, so none of that made it into the episode. In the News (5:40) We only discuss one news item this time, which is a summary of how billionaires have fared during the pandemic. Turns out, they’ve done quite well. In fact, in 2020, the average billionaire added 20% to their wealth so far. Meanwhile, the other 99% of us have collectively lost $5.6 trillion in wealth. Consequently, we should understand the pandemic crisis for what it is: a massive wealth transfer to those who need it the least. Billionaire #1 (16:00): Denise Debartolo York (5/10 on the DKMALI) Chad researched Denise Debartolo York, heiress to the Debartolo real estate fortune that was built by Edward Debartolo, Sr. She is most well known for being owner of the San Francisco 49ers, although she took it over only after the former owner, her brother Eddie, was found guilty of bribing a Louisiana governor $400,000 to get a riverboat casino license. The Debartolo family has long-standing involvement with the Youngstown mafia. If you are unfamiliar with Youngstown, OH (aka Crimetown, USA) and its history, we think you’ll find this entertaining. We also recommend checking out the readings below, because we barely scratch the surface of the extremely bizarre mafia history of Youngstown. Billionaire #2 (46:50): Jeffrey Lurie (4/10 on the DKMALI) Joe’s billionaire is owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he is, as Joe describes him, “a mostly uninteresting person.” Given his uninterestingness, which is a problem we often run into on Zero Sum Empire, Joe decided to look into the history of football as a sport. He introduces us to Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football,” who not only invented football in the 19th c., but also wrote a bunch of books like “Keeping Fit All the Way” that extol the virtues of things like “purity,” and “cleanliness,” and other normal stuff that doesn’t raise any red flags whatsoever. I think we arrive at the conclusion that the NFL is an organized crime syndicate whose product is violence and whose cost of doing business is the regular production of dead bodies. Links: I had a whole segment about Jim Traficant planned that didn’t make it into the show. This story from The New Republic does a nice job of summarizing his career and the general vibe of Youngstown. https://newrepublic.com/article/68973/crimetown-usa How Eddie DeBartolo got caught in a scandal that cost him the 49ers: https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/02/18/how-eddie-debartolo-got-caught-in-a-scandal-that-cost-him-the-49ers/ Short film on Youngstown mafia: https://youtu.be/lnjx9oCa5KI https://gangsterreport.com/the-san-francisco-49ers-the-mob-super-bowl-teams-ownership-group-has-alleged-dark-history/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/sports/football/nfl-100-violence-american-culture.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/05/29/teddy-roosevelt-helped-save-football-with-a-white-house-meeting-in-1905/ https://books.google.com/books?id=KFDCUPCIU7kC&pg=PA98-IA10&lpg=PA98-IA10&dq=cincinnati+commercial+tribune+grim+reaper+football&source=bl&ots=mT6p5fGXfk&sig=_TaCFvOpOVB9ZQw4eTyAaDxBLfw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RpuGU-zbLZSksQTi2IHAAg#v=onepage&q=cincinnati%20commercial%20tribune%20grim%20reaper%20football&f=false