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Interesting opinion piece in The Atlantic. Although I'll always stick to my teams and likely not switch he does make some good points:
Quote:
America’s professional athletic leagues are essentially cartels. By prohibiting cities from having too many competing teams, they obligate fans to support local powerhouses owned by billionaires who use fans’ undying loyalty as emotional leverage for municipal extortion. Many of these owners make ludicrous financial demands of city and state governments. London, by contrast, has more than a dozen professional soccer clubs that move up and down through various leagues; as such, none are viewed as civically essential, and local governments tend not to subsidize their stadiums.
Also:
Quote:
When fat-cat owners aren’t begging cities for money, they’re raking it in from you, the ever-loyal fan. In the 2016–17 season, when the New York Knicks went 31–51, the team nonetheless received $10 million more from television deals than the NBA’s six lowest-earning teams combined, because millions and millions of fans refuse to give up on an owner who has repeatedly insulted them with poor management and ragtag teams. The Knicks haven’t made the conference finals in the 21st century. But what urgency does James Dolan, the Knicks owner, feel to build a more competitive squad when he knows that you and Spike Lee will be there through thick and thin?
I've felt this way in the past, and the Knicks are the perfect example of an owner taking for granted a fanbase who will always buy tickets and not feeling the need expense himself and improve the team to turn a profit. Previous owners of the Cubs and Warriors were the same way, and you see the turnaround in fan enthusiasm (and spending) when ownership actually invests in their rosters.
The last'ros were the most profitable team in baseball when they were horrible. They made more when they lost. Basketball is full of teams tanking and still making huge profits. I agree it's fair to show as much loyalty as the teams show, which is none. The decline in sports across the board is starting to show that fans have woken up. An inferior product isn't worth much.
I feel if the management of an organization is incompetent and they make crappy moves, they don't deserve my loyalty. We've seen this for all three of our franchises here in the TB area (Bucs, Rays, Bolts).
The high profile exceptions are only that, exceptions. The majority of teams fall into what is referred to as mid-market teams and those fans tend to stick with their teams through thick and thin...like real fans tend to do. The list is long with teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds in MLB or the Buffalo Bills, NY Jets, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins in the NFL who have had little to cheer for over recent years still exhibiting team pride through generations because that's what true fans do, versus hopping on/off varying bandwagons.
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