So how come, with all the push for deregulation, no one from either party EVER

[pnwmom]

pushes for the deregulation of professional sports?

This would benefit the fans in cities that are now prevented from fielding a team. It would benefit voters who could make reasoned decisions on developing their sports facilities. And it would result in more jobs for players and other sports people. The only people who wouldn't come out ahead would be the owners, who are currently the beneficiaries of the monopoly system.

Here we are in Seattle, once again facing an extortion attempt by one of our professional teams -- the Sonics -- just a few years after the last successful extortion which resulted in the state spending many millions remodeling the Key Arena to the team's specs. This wouldn't be a problem if there weren't a limited number of teams for which cities have to compete. Why not let any city that can build a stadium have their own team?

I'm not a sports person, so I'm probably sounding like an ignoramus. But I'm an ignoramus who's tired of being held up by one team or another every few years, when we should be putting more money into things like health care and schools.

[marmar]

1. Sports teams are some of the biggest corporate welfare queens around....

.... Constantly trying to bilk taxpayer money from municipalities for their stadiums and forever in search of tax breaks.

[Clear Blue Sky]

4. Some cities (Seattle I think?) have voted down funding for new stadiums.

The teams left and everyone said good riddance.

[pnwmom]

11. We voted a stadium down, but the state government entered into a deal to raise taxes

and build the stadium ANYWAY.

A lot of voters were unhappy about that.

But the team did stay -- that time. And now here we are, a few years later, facing the same situation again.

[elizfeelinggreat]

2. what a great question

Certainly education, health care, the city's infrastructure, other necessities should take priority over for-profit sports teams. I'd guess the city's sports fans are a formidable opponent to any change, though.

[pnwmom]

3. But why would the fans care? As long as they have a team?

What is happening here in Seattle, once again, is that we're threatened with losing a team. There is a cap on the number of teams in the league, so the only way another city can acquire a team is to lure one from a city that already has one, like Seattle.

If we didn't put an artificial limit on the number of teams in the league, there would be that many more happy fans -- at least to my way of thinking. Seattle fans would be happy, and any other city would also be free to build a stadium and develop a team.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. The current rules actually FORBID municipally-owned teams like the Green Bay Packers

It's all a big corporate scam now, where neither the owners nor the players come from or feel loyalty to the city they supposedly represent. It's sad when fans "love" a team that doesn't have the least bit of love for them in return.

[pnwmom]

8. That's how I feel, too. Why should the team loyalty go in only one direction?

I can root for the college teams, but not for the professional. Not the way the system's set up now anyway.

[ThomWV]

6. Other than business controlls (anti trust) just what Federal regulation is imposed on sport?

I'm not sure what body of regulation it is you are agains? Is there a regulatory agency called the Agency of Sport that I am not aware of?

[elizfeelinggreat]

7. I assumed

she was talking about the tax breaks, the stadiums and all the infrastructure surrounding them that is funded or in some way assisted by the taxpayers, etc. Perhaps some regulation could curb the enthusiasm of our cities to award sports teams special services and privileges at the expense of citizens? (And I know the cities believe they're getting value back but that's really a personal viewpoint, isn't it?)

I think it's a good question to raise - who profits from such breaks.

[pnwmom]

10. Thank you. I was, in part.

And I also just spoke sloppily. The limits on the number of teams come from the leagues themselves, not the government. But I think the government should exercise its financial and legal powers to encourage more competition among the teams -- rather than allowing the leagues to artificially keep the number of competing teams low.

[pnwmom]

9. The sports leagues are allowed to run monopolies that wouldn't

be allowed in other fields. The government should subject the leagues to the same anti-trust laws that they expect other businesses to adhere to.

Can Hollywood studios limit the number of studios that make movies? Why should leagues be able to limit the number of competing teams?

You're right, though, that I misspoke when I called for the government to deregulate them; I should have called for the government to push the leagues to loosen their own restrictions.