Ravens allocate over a million dollars extra for this season

Steve Bisciotti is amongst the best owners in the National Football League. He is willing to do what it takes to increase the chances of winning, even if it means lightening his wallet. Jamison Hensley of ESPN reported yesterday that the organization has spent more than a million dollars extra this season, in order to minimize travel for the players and coaches. They hope the extra expenditures well help them return to the Bay Area for Super Bowl 50, which will be played at Levi Stadium in San Francisco.

Here is more from Hensley:

That commitment to get back to the Super Bowl is evident based on a hefty investment that's designed to give them an advantage. Baltimore will spend over $1 million this year for extended trips to Philadelphia (for joint training camp practices with the Eagles), to San Jose (for the week in between the Broncos and Raiders games) and to Phoenix, Arizona, (for the week after the 49ers game and before the Cardinals game), according to team sources.

This money allows the Ravens to avoid taking a cross-country flight to Baltimore and then turn around four days later to board another six-hour flight back. It also provides more time for team bonding, because this becomes another training camp where players room together and eat together at the hotel.

This decision was made by Harbaugh, but only after getting feedback and some research results. When the Ravens learned their schedule would feature five road trips in the first seven weeks (including four games out west), Baltimore did its homework and found that teams have a better success rate when they stay out east or west. The Ravens' player leadership council unanimously voted to remain out west because there is less fatigue with fewer cross-country flights.

Head coach John Harbaugh also checked with his brother Jim before making his decision. Jim, the former coach of the San Francisco 49ers, is well versed in the disadvantages of cross country travel between games:

Then, John Harbaugh talked to his brother Jim, who is a strong advocate of remaining on that side of the country in between back-to-back road games. Under Jim Harbaugh, the San Francisco 49ers won both games after staying there the week before.

"Really, more than anything, you go with your gut," John Harbaugh said. "I talked to Jim a lot about his trips east, and he really felt great about it. That was the overriding factor."

The team had to spend for a variety of different things, including lodging, hot tubs, practice equipment and space, meeting space, and bringing extra support staff, including employees to repair the practice jerseys:

It took two months for the Ravens to find a hotel that had the space and availability to house 150 members of a football team (players, coaches and support staff) for an entire week in the busy Silicon Valley. The Ravens will practice and use the weight room at nearby San Jose State, but their locker room and meeting rooms will be recreated at the hotel.

The team rented hot and cold tubs, airlifted football equipment like blocking sleds from Baltimore and even brought along the people who repair their practice jerseys.

At the end of the day though, it seems to be a better option than the alternative, even if it isn't even proven:

"I think everybody realizes that it’s not going to be the Owings Mills [Maryland] training facility," said Bob Eller, the Ravens' senior vice president of operations. "But everyone will get what they need in preparation for the Raiders."

The Ravens will have a similar road trip next month, when they play at San Francisco and then go to Phoenix for the week leading up to a "Monday Night Football" game at Arizona.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco acknowledged that no one really knows whether staying out west is the right decision, but he believes this has to be better than the alternative of enduring a total of eight cross-country flights.

"I know how you can feel when you get out there after the long trip and getting your body going," Flacco said. "I think guys are just intrigued by the fact that it might be the good way to do it and we might feel fresher because of it."