6 ms·

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
    - cozzyd 8y ago
      American Football is probably dying. Too dangerous. MLS might be a better long term investment.
      - lgregg 8y ago
        I think three team soccer would really take off in United States. If Americans really do love reality TV and drama, then it might just be a match made in heaven.
  - geodel 8y ago
    I think market value of NFL teams in aggregate is about $60 billion. Anything which come close to that number looks big, bad, serious business to me, quite opposite of romantic.
    - retbull 8y ago
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  On the note of NFL being a private club: Donald Trump always wanted to buy a NFL team, but for various reasons was never allowed. There is speculation that this is part of the reason that he loves criticising the NFL for players taking a knee, and keeps insisting they're struggling and their numbers are down and they're failing. He's salty that they never let him have a team.
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.

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
  - cozzyd 8y ago
    American Football is probably dying. Too dangerous. MLS might be a better long term investment.
    - lgregg 8y ago
      I think three team soccer would really take off in United States. If Americans really do love reality TV and drama, then it might just be a match made in heaven.
- geodel 8y ago
  I think market value of NFL teams in aggregate is about $60 billion. Anything which come close to that number looks big, bad, serious business to me, quite opposite of romantic.
  - retbull 8y ago
toomanybeersies 8y ago
On the note of NFL being a private club: Donald Trump always wanted to buy a NFL team, but for various reasons was never allowed. There is speculation that this is part of the reason that he loves criticising the NFL for players taking a knee, and keeps insisting they're struggling and their numbers are down and they're failing. He's salty that they never let him have a team.

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.