Article courtesy of Steve Hofstetter of the New York Times:
I’ve always wanted to own a baseball team. Ten years ago, I even purchased one share of the Cleveland Indians for $16. It was either buy the stock or buy a commemorative cup of soda.
But fans, even those who own a novelty share of stock, do not control their teams. If we did, Isiah Thomas would be collecting unemployment, Yankee Stadium bleachers would still serve beer, and the Dodgers would have never left Flatbush.
Instead, Thomas received a contract extension, Bleacher Creatures have to start slurring before the game, and the only rivalry the Dodgers inspire is between fans who leave in the sixth inning and fans who leave in the seventh.
Enter Joe Scura, the mind behind Project Franchise, a group with a mission to buy a sports team and let the fans vote on every decision.
Yes, every decision. Next time Fox wants to advertise its hilarious new cop-and-dog buddy flick behind home plate, it may have to poll the fans.
“Something like this has been a long time coming, but the Internet has finally made it feasible,” Scura said. “Fans are more than just piggy banks/hot dog receptacles.”
For $5, fans can buy a vote and act as the collective general manager, deciding on everything from personnel to team colors. That could have helped the Tampa Bay Devil Rays when they decided that pastels belonged in a logo. The Rays have since rebranded in dark green and dropped the devil from their name. Word has it the devil himself no longer wanted to be associated with the team.
This isn’t merely some “leave Britney alone” Internet lark. The leadership of Project Franchise consists of lawyers, Web gurus and business school graduates who probably have more sports skill than, say, a shipbuilder.
Although the group has some allegiance toward its base in Miami, it is not considering the Dolphins, the Heat, the Marlins or the Panthers. The members are, after all, in the market for a professional sports team. The closest thing Miami has to a professional team is the Hurricanes, and not only because 13 of them were suspended for brawling.
“Any fan could have done a better job than the Dolphin front office,” Scura said before expanding his grief. “Every generation has their own Isiah Thomas or Matt Millen.”
Scura’s Isiah Thomas is Randy Mueller. My Isiah Thomas is Isiah Thomas.
The collective general manager would not technically own the team, as public offering laws would make that prohibitively expensive. But fans would be the deciders. And to borrow another term from President Bush, that is virtuably incomprehensifying.
The main difference between fans and owners is that fans care more about the bottom of the ninth than the bottom line. Occasionally, a fan is rich enough to become an owner, but the N.B.A. fines him until he quiets down.
Some owners know they can sell tickets regardless of whom they sign. The reason the Chicago Cubs routinely disappoint fans is because they would still sell out even if it had been decades since they won anything. Wait a minute. ...
Owners who are in it only to turn a profit (I’m looking at you, Carl Pohlad) can ruin the game. But so can some fans. (I’m looking at you, Steve Bartman.) Fans touched off the Pistons-Pacers brawl, and fans attacked an opposing coach and an umpire in two incidents in Chicago. I would love to run a team, because then any fan who left the seats would be immediately punished — perhaps with a public flogging, or a trade to the Timberwolves.
And fans are not immune to front-office mistakes, either. Most Mets fans were excited when they signed Bobby Bonilla. The team would have been better off spending that money on a bag of magic beans. At least the beans would not have struck out 100 times in a season.
What if fans made the calls? No one would ever be reprimanded for failing to shave sideburns. Players would sign autographs for hours at every game, lest they be traded because “the bum didn’t sign a ball for my kid.” Most important, no one at the game could complain.
That could cut into attendance a bit because some fans go to games only to complain. If fans went to games solely to enjoy the experience, no one would ever watch the Detroit Lions.
The Green Bay Packers would be celebrating Brett Favre’s unretirement.
Steroids would be legal in San Francisco. The Baseball Hall of Fame would unveil its new Pete Rose Wing, just outside of Cooperstown (in Cincinnati). I don’t know how things would be different in Kansas City, because it has been a while since sports fans lived there.
But Project Franchise will probably have to settle for a minor, development, arena or junior league team. Unless this idea becomes bigger than Britney (which these days is pretty big), Project Franchise does not have a realistic chance of buying a major club.
So maybe it will buy the Dolphins after all.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT PROJECT FRANCHISE AT THEIR WEBSITE:
HTTP://WWW.PROJECTFRANCHISE.ORG
