Sports Fans Coalition sent the following letter today to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in response to his letter to NFL fans on Monday.
January 4, 2010
Dear Mr. Goodell,
Yesterday, you sent a letter to fans of the NFL stating that “we can and will reach an agreement” with the player’s union on a new collective bargaining agreement. However, NFL fans everywhere deserve a guarantee that no games will be lost in 2011.
Sports fans and taxpayers around the country have already invested over $6.5 billion in NFL stadiums in the last 20 years, with nearly $4.5 billion coming in the last 10 years. These figures don’t include unreported subsidies, which could account for up to 40% more than reported costs. The very least the NFL can do is guarantee to the fans that the games will go on next season.
Sports fans and taxpayers around the country made these generous investments oftentimes after owners threatened to move teams to other cities if their demands weren’t met. These stadiums were touted as benefiting local economies by the owners – the same owners threatening to withhold the games, thus denying cities any of the purported benefits.
Regardless of whether fans in 28 out of the 32 NFL cities should have helped finance stadium construction and renovation in the last 20 years, they did. It’s up to the owners and the players to now ensure that the games will be played.
Nowhere in your letter did you mention the generous investment fans have made in these stadiums, which is not surprising considering the way the league continues to downplay this investment. Earlier this season you stated: “I think [new stadiums] are great for the fans, but the financing no longer comes from the public sector.” Really?
Fans in Santa Clara have agreed to contribute $444 million for a new home for the 49ers. And fans in Indianapolis might take exception to this, having set aside a staggering $720 million for the Colts’ new home just three years ago. In just the last five years, taxpayers have contributed at least $1.9 billion in subsidies to NFL stadiums.
In your letter to fans you wrote that economic conditions “have changed dramatically inside and outside the NFL since 2006.” You added: “Fans have limited budgets and rightly want the most for their money. I get it.”
No, Mr. Goodell. You don’t ‘get it.’ If you did, you would show greater appreciation for the fact that fans have already invested in their teams and they just want a return on their investment. Please guarantee to us that there will be a full season in 2011.
Sincerely,
Brian Frederick
Executive Director
Sports Fans Coalition
You absolutely knocked this one out of the park, Brian. Kudos.
Finally, an organization with some guts to challenge the establishment. What are we supposed to do, be grateful that Goodell sent us fans an e-mail yesterday? Hey Roger, guarantee no work stoppage, and then maybe we’ll take you serious!
Brian: Good reply, but you missed something in your letter–not only did municipalities pay for the current stadiums, they’re also still paying off previous ones. For example, Indianapolis is still paying for the now-demolished RCA Dome in addition to Lucas Oil Stadium. Plus, an old stadium may be essentially valueless (the Silverdome sold for about $550,000 after costing about $55 million to build in 1975, or about $220 million in 2010 dollars), but the team often has essentially no financial responsibility for the facility–they use it and they dumped it, kind of like a rental car.
Public financing also needs to stop. Whether it will or not is another story entirely.