What would stop billionaire sports franchise owners from continuing their graft, slapping their greedy hands from cookie jar of public money to fund their new stadiums and renovations? It takes a recession for our municipal government to say enough is enough.

In this Wall Street Journal column, Ianthe Jeane Dugan calls it the end of an era (let’s hope!) pointing to the front lines in which various grassroots movements have made noise effectively smacking down  rich franchise owner’s outstretched palms. 

Well, it’s worked before, and the owners will keep trying until sports fans get organized and tell them emphatically ‘NO!’ That’s one of the main reasons SFC was founded. Let’s give a voice to sports fans and join together to protect our own interests.

Here, here!

PS If you think this will be easy, you must recognize there are many who’d be happy to use your tax money to keep a ball club from moving.  This ransom scenario is not new and more than a decade old as Dugan suggests.  It takes place at the minor league level as well. 

Read the quote from Mesa, Arizona City Manager Christopher Brady arguing that the public should help pay for a new grapefruit league stadium since the town makes so much on the back end:

“If we put money into, say, a fire department, it would be gone,” he said. “This way we leverage the investment.”

Right.  So, you’re saying investment in a new fire department is a wasted expense and less of a necessity than a new minor league baseball park. Typical. Our work here is not done.

Jeremiah Tittle is the Managing Editor of SportsFansCoalition.org. Reach him at JeremiahTittle@gmail.com. Apply for a position with the SFC Sportswriter Fellowship here.