$20m isn’t a bribe. It’s an entry fee, license fee to participate in taking a slice of the pie that the other 17 clubs create.
Without an 18th, 19th and 20th team the 17 established clubs have more of the money from the pool that goes directly to them. Once you add more partners then the pie slices get thinner because there are more slices needing to be shared regardless if the broadcasting deal is bigger.
There seems to be conflicting views on this forum, probably because most of us don't really have a clue what is going on.
Some are saying that the Western Bears have to pay an entry/license fee as they would be sharing the pie, which is fare enough. But did the Dolphins pay an entry/license fee?
Others are saying it's not a fee but a contingency they have to put up in case things go pear shaped and the Dolphins didn't have to because they have a leagues club with milions of dollars of assets backing them. In most cases I would suggest the leagues and football clubs are 2 separate legal entities, and while closely aligned, there is no guarantee that the leagues club will support the football club if it went pear shaped unless there is a legally binding document. I would suggest a lot of the leagues club members would not be happy having to bail out a football team if they are only members of the club and enjoy going to the club with no interest in what the football team is doing.
Others are calling it a 'bribe' to be paid to the existing clubs to vote the Western Bears in.
Does anyone really know what is happening or are people writing stuff depending on which side of the fence they are sitting.