John Oliver On the Crooked Corporate Sports Owners

[Minimalist]

and the gutless politicians who suck their dicks.

[Pyrrho]

It is corporate welfare. Charity for the rich.

[Minimalist]

It is corporate theft, is what it is.

[Jackalope]

In my view, the former Seattle SuperSonics represent a success story in relations between local government and professional sports. The conversation went something like this:

Sonics' owner: We'd like you to update our aging sports arena.

Seattle: GTFO

<Team is sold to an Oklahoma City investing group>

Sonics' new owner: We'd like you to build us a new arena.

Seattle: GTFO

<Lawsuits ensue>

<SuperSonics move to Oklahoma City>

Well, it was a success story for Seattle, anyway. I suspect they were still a bit buttsore after being put over the barrel by the Seahawks.

[Minimalist]

I live 10 miles from Glendale, AZ where the whole Coyote snafu has been playing out for 5-6 years.  Glendale is a city of 225,000 people and they spent $220 million to build the arena.  It's a nice arena to be sure but it is a long way from downtown Phoenix where the Suns and Diamondbacks play.  Worse, the games start at 7 PM which means that anyone driving there from the Phoenix/Tempe/Mesa area is driving on the I-10 right into the sun glare.  It's murder making that drive and thus no surprise that a lot of people don't do it.

I've gone there for two NY Ranger games, one with the Carolina Hurricanes and one with the Vancouver Canucks.  Attendance for the Ranger games was about 12-13,000 and roughly half the crowd was wearing Ranger jerseys.  The Hurricanes drew about 5,000... no body gives a fuck about them.  For the Canucks, though, the place was sold out as every Canadian wintering in the region showed up for the game.  When Vancouver scored I thought the roof would blow off.  They also sell out when Detroit and Chicago come in.  There are lots of snow birds who come to AZ from the mid-west during the winter.

So now, fucked over when the first owner pulled a bankruptcy scam, Glendale is stuck with a white elephant that generates no where near the revenue they were promised and they still have those bonds to repay.  The rest of Arizona doesn't give a shit because their taxes aren't going to support the arena.  Just poor little Glendale.

If what happened to Glendale is not enough to make these idiot politicians realize that they are being played for saps then nothing is.  And they deserve whatever happens to them.

[Ravenshire]

As much of a Broncos fan as I am, had the deal for their new stadium gone south, I would not have shed a single tear. There was nothing structurally wrong with Mile High, where the team had to pay rent and the city kept the majority of the parking, concession and non-football revenue. Of course, I'm not the rabid, break shit on Sunday, be pissed off all week long if they lose type of fan any longer. Mostly because of expense. I can remember when fan apparel was only marginally more expensive than everyday apparel. Now, and official NFL jersey is $300 (for the asshole that barely rates a jersey) and up. Why? So we can continue paying man-children eight figure annual salaries to play a fucking game. Hell, I used to go to at least a couple games each year. Back when $20 would get me a ticket in the south stands, a dog and a couple beers (not as long ago as you might think). Now, that won't cover parking and the cheapest seat in the house is over $50.00 with a better view of the ISS than the field. If the NFL folded tomorrow, I'd miss it, but honestly, not that much. Especially with an arena team just up the road where season tickets for the best seats in the house are less expensive than single game mid-level seats at a Broncos game.

Fuck the NFL owners and the asshole, multi-million dollar man-children who play the game (and all the other billion dollar leagues). There are too many other entertainment tickets in town.

[Jackalope]

I held Seahawks season tickets as late as 1996, upper level front row on the 50 yard line - 2 preseason games and 10 regular season games, $500 per seat for the season.

Now, between gas, parking, snacks and drinks, and buying tickets on the secondary market, any premium matchup is going to run $400+ for a single comparable seat. Watching them beat up a bad team is more like $250+. Even the cheapass endzone seats are well over a Benjamin.

Fuck that. I haven't been to a game in years, I might go to one this year before they take the inevitable slide back into mediocrity.

[Ravenshire]

CD, have you been to a Portland Thunder arena game yet? They're playing at the Rose Garden (yeah, I know but I can't remember the new name) and lower level sideline seats are only $65. Upper level corner section (worst, cheapest seats in the house here) are now $61.00 (face value). I would imagine that Seahawks tix are comparable. Best thing about the arena game is that you can usually get face value seats at the box office on game day.

[Cato]

I've gone there for two NY Ranger games, one with the Carolina Hurricanes and one with the Vancouver Canucks.  Attendance for the Ranger games was about 12-13,000 and roughly half the crowd was wearing Ranger jerseys.  The Hurricanes drew about 5,000... no body gives a fuck about them.  For the Canucks, though, the place was sold out as every Canadian wintering in the region showed up for the game.  When Vancouver scored I thought the roof would blow off.  They also sell out when Detroit and Chicago come in.  There are lots of snow birds who come to AZ from the mid-west during the winter.

I love hockey, but consider myself a bit of an evil talisman when it comes to the NHL. The Navy saw fit to move me to Connecticut; Hartford a couple years later loses the Whalers. Later in life I moved to Atlanta; the Thrashers absconded for Winnipeg some years after coming to town. I moved to NYC thinking that the curse was done, but the Islanders will now play in Brooklyn. Simply consult a map and it's reasonable to conclude that the relatively short distance relocation is no big deal; however, culturally its worse than the two aforementioned moves.

Coincidences? Very likely; however, if you want to be rid of your local team it might be worth the investment to arrange a job for me in your neck of the woods.

[Minimalist]

The fucking Islanders can die a horrible death as far as I care. 

I've been a Rangers fan since 1960.

I will say that the shithole the Isles played in was the worst in the league.  My son and I went to see the US Olympic team play the Czechs there in an exhibition.  Our seats were terribly uncomfortable but people 3 rows up from us were getting rained on.  And that wasn't the only leak in the roof.  I can't help but wonder how many of their "fans" will bother hopping on the Long Island RailRoad to go in to Brooklyn?

We'll soon see.

Meanwhile they should turn that other shithole into a Flea Market.  I'm sure it already has the fleas.