For the third time in 14 months the National Football League is allowing one of its teams to leave the city where its most passionate fans live to go carpetbagging off to a new city which is willing to pay a hefty bribe in the form of a new stadium. First it was the St. Louis Rams, leaving the Midwest and moving back to Los Angeles after leaving that city in 1994. Why? Because their owner wanted to build an entertainment complex including a stadium on land he owned in Inglewood, Ca. Then came the San Diego Chargers, who announced they were going to move to LA and share the stadium the Rams are building. Why? Because San Diego refused to contribute millions of dollars to publicly finance a new stadium for the Chargers.
Today, the Oakland Raiders announced the team will leave Oakland for the second time, having moved to LA in 1982 and then back to Oakland in 1995. The team will move to Las Vegas after a stadium is completed, probably in 2020. Meanwhile they’ll continue to play at Oakland Coliseum. Tonight I heard ESPN’s Neil Everett equate that to “living with your ex while pining for your new love”. I’d just call it awkward.
I think this banditry needs to stop. It won’t as long as cities think they’ll get some psychic benefit from having an NFL or NHL or MLB or MLS or NBA team call it home, but it should. I commend the citizens of San Diego and Oakland for refusing to raise taxes on themselves to give millionaire or billionaire pro sports team owners new facilities to show off their teams. It’s obnoxious enough in baseball (the Atlanta Braves are closing Turner Field downtown after only 20 years of use to move north where their richer fans live), but at least a baseball stadium is in use for 81 games per year. The NFL only uses its stadium for 8 home games per season. That means the publicly-financed white elephant sits idle 10 months of a year.
It’s even more outlandish when you look at the cost of a ticket to an NFL game. In 2006 the average price for one ticket to an NFL game was $62.38. Ten years later it was $92.98. How many city residents want to or can spend nearly $100 for a single three-hour entertainment and more if beverages and food are desired?
It’s blackmail by the leagues and cities should refuse to pay it.