7 ms·

Except for the Green Bay Packers - the city owns the Packers, and it seems to be doing well(?). I'm not sure, but there at least isn't uncertainty about whether

Except for the Green Bay Packers - the city owns the Packers, and it seems to be doing well(?). I'm not sure, but there at least isn't uncertainty about whether they'll stick around or not.

olivermarks 8y ago
GBP are a wonderful exception and the only credible way for a city to have a team imo
- swsieber 8y ago
  Sadly, from what I know, other teams can't become like them because of team ownership restrictions (well, in the NFL). (Please correct me if wrong). I think the only reason the Packers have this setup is because it was around before the new ownership restrictions. I think they are the only town team to survive the transition to the NFL.
xxpor 8y ago
It's not the city that owns them, it's the fans themselves. The NFL has specifically banned that form of ownership since.
- retbull 8y ago
  Why did they ban it?
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    It is a private club. Every small private club wants to limit new members. The concept of hoards of fans weighing in on decisions doesn't sit well with a klatch of billionaires used to operating independently.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - raldi 8y ago
      Specifically, the Packers representative will have the fans' interests at heart. The other representatives will be focused on the owners' interests, usually financial.
      - sandworm101 8y ago
        I think it is more than simple money. For the new crop of billionaires, sports teams are a fashion item. A really fancy yacht can cost hundreds of millions but they are a pain to get to/from and are generally a private affair. A sports team lets you flaunt your wealth in front of thousands on a daily basis. You get to play host to athletes that everyone wants to know. So owners take public intrusion into their clubs more personally than they do any other simple business.
      - jandrese 8y ago
        Also, it means they can't move the team around to court more lucrative tax incentives. It's a bad deal all around for billionaires looking to siphon as much money from the fans as possible.
    - aalleavitch 8y ago
      Makes me wonder if we could somehow crowdfund an NFL competitor where every team was owned by the fans. Probably not feasible, but I find the idea romantic.
      - lgregg 8y ago
        It could work, but you would need a big initial buy-in to get it off the ground. You'd likely need at least 6-8 teams initially and venues for them to play since the NFL has banned it. I could see this working well at a minor league level because the players wouldn't really be sacrificing much, I think, but I'm not certain. You'd also have to figure out the costs for gear, staff, and etc. You'd also have to figure out logistics for management, I imagine a trust would be the best middle ground. My best friend is from Cork City in Ireland, Cork FC is fan-owned which runs out of a trust. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FORAS_(football_supporters%27_trust) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FORAS_(football_supporters%27_... Side-bar: I am curious if MLS has banned fan-ownership. Edit: Unsure, seems like 4th Tier league allows fan-ownership. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams... Second Edit: Reading [2], it seems like it'd be possible to have a European fan-ownership structure except that the team would own shares from MLS to have the team rights. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_owners https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_owners
  - astura 8y ago
    Having teams that are run for-profit makes teams more financially valuable and thus the NFL more financially valuable as a result.
  - jrs235 8y ago
    It provides an avenue for League financials to leak out and exposes just how much money the league and owners take in for revenue. If the team was owned by individual, the owners would likely keep those numbers a secret. They don't want the fans to know that the owners can easily foot the bill(s) and fund their own stadiums.
- astura 8y ago
  (Admittedly, I'm only familiar with American teams.) The only two professional sports teams that I know of that are owned by the community/fans are the Green Bay Packers and the Rochester Red Wings. Does anyone know of any others? Edit: Did a small bit of research and it looks like the Toledo Mud Hens are community owned and the Syracuse Chiefs were community owned until this year when they sold to the Mets. Edit: Oh, of course there's a Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams
  - gsnedders 8y ago
    AFC Wimbledon in the English Football League (currently in League One).
  - kcorbitt 8y ago
    FC Barcelona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona). Seems to work well for them.
  - walshemj 8y ago
    A lot of European teams have this model
ataturk 8y ago
Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Vikings. It's great to have local pride, but that pride came at huge cost. Although MN did host the coldest Superbowl in history.

Except for the Green Bay Packers - the city owns the Packers, and it seems to be doing well(?). I'm not sure, but there at least isn't uncertainty about whether they'll stick around or not.

olivermarks 8y ago

GBP are a wonderful exception and the only credible way for a city to have a team imo

swsieber 8y ago
Sadly, from what I know, other teams can't become like them because of team ownership restrictions (well, in the NFL). (Please correct me if wrong). I think the only reason the Packers have this setup is because it was around before the new ownership restrictions. I think they are the only town team to survive the transition to the NFL.

xxpor 8y ago

It's not the city that owns them, it's the fans themselves. The NFL has specifically banned that form of ownership since.

retbull 8y ago
Why did they ban it?
- sandworm101 8y ago
  It is a private club. Every small private club wants to limit new members. The concept of hoards of fans weighing in on decisions doesn't sit well with a klatch of billionaires used to operating independently.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - raldi 8y ago
    Specifically, the Packers representative will have the fans' interests at heart. The other representatives will be focused on the owners' interests, usually financial.
    - sandworm101 8y ago
      I think it is more than simple money. For the new crop of billionaires, sports teams are a fashion item. A really fancy yacht can cost hundreds of millions but they are a pain to get to/from and are generally a private affair. A sports team lets you flaunt your wealth in front of thousands on a daily basis. You get to play host to athletes that everyone wants to know. So owners take public intrusion into their clubs more personally than they do any other simple business.
    - jandrese 8y ago
      Also, it means they can't move the team around to court more lucrative tax incentives. It's a bad deal all around for billionaires looking to siphon as much money from the fans as possible.
  - aalleavitch 8y ago
    Makes me wonder if we could somehow crowdfund an NFL competitor where every team was owned by the fans. Probably not feasible, but I find the idea romantic.
    - lgregg 8y ago
      It could work, but you would need a big initial buy-in to get it off the ground. You'd likely need at least 6-8 teams initially and venues for them to play since the NFL has banned it. I could see this working well at a minor league level because the players wouldn't really be sacrificing much, I think, but I'm not certain. You'd also have to figure out the costs for gear, staff, and etc. You'd also have to figure out logistics for management, I imagine a trust would be the best middle ground. My best friend is from Cork City in Ireland, Cork FC is fan-owned which runs out of a trust. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FORAS_(football_supporters%27_trust) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FORAS_(football_supporters%27_... Side-bar: I am curious if MLS has banned fan-ownership. Edit: Unsure, seems like 4th Tier league allows fan-ownership. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams... Second Edit: Reading [2], it seems like it'd be possible to have a European fan-ownership structure except that the team would own shares from MLS to have the team rights. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_owners https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Soccer_owners
- astura 8y ago
  Having teams that are run for-profit makes teams more financially valuable and thus the NFL more financially valuable as a result.
- jrs235 8y ago
  It provides an avenue for League financials to leak out and exposes just how much money the league and owners take in for revenue. If the team was owned by individual, the owners would likely keep those numbers a secret. They don't want the fans to know that the owners can easily foot the bill(s) and fund their own stadiums.
astura 8y ago
(Admittedly, I'm only familiar with American teams.) The only two professional sports teams that I know of that are owned by the community/fans are the Green Bay Packers and the Rochester Red Wings. Does anyone know of any others? Edit: Did a small bit of research and it looks like the Toledo Mud Hens are community owned and the Syracuse Chiefs were community owned until this year when they sold to the Mets. Edit: Oh, of course there's a Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fan-owned_sports_teams
- gsnedders 8y ago
  AFC Wimbledon in the English Football League (currently in League One).
- kcorbitt 8y ago
  FC Barcelona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona). Seems to work well for them.
- walshemj 8y ago
  A lot of European teams have this model

ataturk 8y ago

Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Vikings. It's great to have local pride, but that pride came at huge cost. Although MN did host the coldest Superbowl in history.