I have made the decision to help launch a new organization called the Sports Fans Coalition. And I was inspired to do it by none other than Mike Lupica.
With all due respect to Mr. Lupica, the New York Daily News sportswriter motivated me by writing the most wrongheaded statement ever written by any sports journalist in history. He wrote "You are owed nothing in sports, no matter how much you care. You are owed nothing no matter how long you've rooted or how much you've paid to do it."
This is so flagrantly wrong. Whether we consider ourselves sports fans or not, the athletic industrial complex owes us plenty. More than anything else, we are owed a say in how the business of sports is run.
We aren't owed this because we cheer ourselves hoarse. We haven't earned it because we pass the rooting tradition down to our children like a rare heirloom. We don't deserve it because it would be a kind and respectful act for sports owners to bend an ear toward our concerns. We are owed it because team owners have had their hands in our pockets for far too long. By calling for and receiving public funds and taxpayer dollars, the owners of professional sports teams have an obligation to hear what we have to say.
$30 billion in public subsidies have gone into stadium funding over the last quarter-century. It
has become a substitute for anything resembling an urban policy in the United States. Pro sports owners, aided and abetted by political lackeys of both parties, have taken us for a collective ride. It may have seemed like fun and games in the go-go 90s. But now that the
credit is being crunched, the time for games has ceased.
You might think that in these tough times, stadium deals would be a thing of the past. But even more of these deals are coming down the pike. Let's be clear: the ride stops now.
The problem is that the organization simply hasn't existed that can agitate for the voice of fans on Capitol Hill and build a grassroots movement in the streets. Now it does, and that's the Sports Fans Coalition: a non-profit organization made up of sports fans who want to demand a seat at the table. Its goals could not be more simple:
- Fair return to the fans for public resources used in sports, and
- Fair access to sporting events at the game and in the media.
- Oppose public subsidies to sports teams. But if subsidies are used:
such funds must be tied to (a) affordable seating throughout the venue and other benefits to the public; and (b) no media "blackout" of sporting events at that arena and no blackouts of local games. Sports fans must be able to view their local sporting events, regardless of what company provides their TV service. If a college or university receives public funds, such funds must be tied to (a) affordable seating throughout sporting venues; and (b) that school participating in a bona fide national championship.
I was asked to sit on the board of this venture and I accepted without a moment's hesitation. To be clear, I don't receive one solitary dime for doing it. I am doing it because I speak in cities around the country. Everywhere, I meet fans who love sports but hate what they have become. They love sports but they cannot stand the idea that they are being taken. It's a very real anger. I am relishing the idea of telling people that they don't just have to take it. I want to shout it from the rooftops: now there is a vehicle by which we can organize and fight for a fair deal from the world of sports.
Already I know we are making an impact because we are making all the right enemies. Before we even started, the cable companies went on a full-court press to tell media outlets that we were "astro-turf"; a front built on satellite dollars trying to take a chunk out of their profits. It's a lie that speaks volumes about the fear that they have that sports fans might actually attempt to develop and organize a voice.
We are owed loyalty. We are owed accessibility. We are owed a return on our massive civic investment. And more than anything, we should make it plain to the owner's box and say that we are owed a little bit of goddamn respect.
For more information, check out sportsfanscoalition.com.
Follow Dave Zirin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/edgeofsports
There is a huge hole at the center of your article. Instead of just telling readers that 30 billion in public funds have been used to subsidize pro sports (college also?), you really need to give some examples and explain to readers how their hard earned dollars flow out of their bank accounts, through the halls of government, and into the accounts of already filthy rich owners.
To be clear: I am not accusing you of being wrong or against what you're doing, I'm only saying that to make your case clearly your article required you to show readers exactly how this happened in two or three concrete cases. Who exactly took tax dollars and handed them to owners?
Pro sports teams routinely play markets against one another. They threaten to move unless they receive public subsidies for their facilities and operations. Ultimately, taxpayer money that should go toward schools and infrastructure ends up in the pockets of billionaire owners and millionaire athletes.
Any sports league that receives public subsidies should be required by federal law to have cost controls (including a salary cap) and books that are open to the public. Also, the practice of writing off skyboxes and premium tickets as "entertainment expenses" must be ended. It's ridiculous that taxpayers foot the bill for new stadiums with corporate luxuries, then the corporations write off the use of these amenities on their taxes.
One of the most famous eminent domain cases involved the Cowboys' future home of Arlington, where baseball's Texas Rangers, at the time owned by George W. Bush, convinced local voters to approve a 1991 tax increase that helped build a new $191 million stadium. The city of Arlington used eminent domain to acquire the property from hundreds of private owners, claiming that the stadium was a "public use," just like highways, schools, or government buildings. Several property owners were lowballed, and court decisions increased their take. (The city, not the team, was responsible for the larger payments. The compensation for one 13-acre plot was increased from $877,000 to $5 million, for example.)
The stadium clearly benefited the Rangers' owners more than anyone else: Bush turned his initial $600,000 investment into $15 million when the team was sold in 1999. But it has produced little of the promised economic benefit to Arlington, and there has never been a real "public use" factor aside from baseball fans' paying their money to see games.
Opponents of stadium deals argue that teams and local governments are getting around the public use issue by placing the stadium or arena in the ownership of a "public sports authority." The property is then tax exempt, and the teams pay nominal rent that is often less than they would have owed in property taxes. The lease arrangements are often lopsided in favor of the teams
Cowboys Stadium Texas Cost $1.15 Billion Tax Exempt Non Profit
Originally estimated to cost $650 million, the stadium's current construction cost is $1.15 billion, which would make it one of the most expensive sports venues ever built. To aid Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones in paying the construction costs of the new stadium, Arlington voters approved the increase of the city's sales tax by one-half of a percent, the hotel occupancy tax by 2 percent, and car rental tax by 5 percent. The City of Arlington will provide $325 million in funding, and Jones will cover any cost overruns. Also, the NFL will provide the Cowboys with an additional $150 million, as per their policy for giving teams a certain lump sum of money for stadium financing. There will be a separate section for the blind and deaf.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_Stadium
The company was also backed by Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs and Dallas private equity firm CIC Partners LP.
http://www.legendshm.com/index-4.html
Stadium eminent domain imminent for homeowners
Mr. Magnus would not say how much the city has offered him for the house he's owned for two years, but he said it wasn't enough to pay off his mortgage.
"They are just giving me pennies and telling me to get out," he said
Anyway, regarding the astroturf accusation, I think that anyone on the board with a corporate or other interest which they put above the interest and goals of the organization should be bounced. That said, everything is astroturf if WE do not support it. Send in your membership, get active, volunteer in your town and make the organization. That is the way movements start. It ain't trivial.
See:
http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/39750/former_satellite_lobbyist_using_fans_as_weapons_against_cable_providers
and
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/21/hill-may-hear-jeers-cheers-of-sports-fans/
Note Melanie Sloan's quote, "classic front group."
This conflict of interest is not a minor issue. I don't know where you live but the DirecTV folks keep the NFL Sunday Ticket channel out my channel lineup. So, here is the test of whether you're astroturf or not. Will this Coalition oppose the NFL Sunday Ticket outrage? Everybody used to get it but the NFL and DirectTV cut a sweetheart deal and now I can't watch my game.
You guys are screwing fans and trying to pretend like you speak for fans.
The coalition should exist but the folks who have conflicts of interest on the board should resign if you wan to be taken seriously. If they do that, sign me up. Until then, I'm waiting for my game!
http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/sportsbiz/2009/nov/10/update-on-the-sports-fan-coalition/
The facts are this: the cable lobby has gone on a full-court press to destroy SFC before it gets off the ground. Your concerns about SFC are based on this disinformation campaign. See Deadspin's exposure of this:
http://deadspin.com/5388533/fans-media-recruited-and-manipulated-in-fight-over-televised-sports-updated
There is no way on heaven or earth, I would involve myself in a front group. And as I wrote, we are making all the right enemies.
Whoaaah, horsey! Who's really running things in the sports world - Greenspan?
Not that I can afford to see a professional game...