People buying sports teams shouldn’t do it to be business savvy, they should do it for love of the game and do everything they can to win– even if that means losing money

SCOTT JACOBS

If there is one line that has driven me to a point of no return lately, it’s this one: “Sports franchises are businesses first.  Who can blame the owner for wanting to make a profit?”

You know why that line bugs the crap out of me?  Because it’s not fair.  It’s not right.  It’s a slap in the face to sports fans.  I can’t stand when sports franchises are compared to other corporations.  The Yankees are not Google.  The Lakers are not Starbucks.  The Miami Heat are not Tropical Smoothie.  No, sports teams and all the other corporations are two separate entities.

It is pretty much a common fact that most franchises in pro sports either break even or lose money.  So it is my belief that you have to be a moron if your main objective for buying a team is turning a profit.  Sounds harsh, but I stand by it.  You don’t go to see Zach and Miri Make a Porno if you’re a religious fanatic who is offended easily by sex jokes and vulgarity.  The same thing goes for sports: if you want to make it big, sports is the wrong game to get involved in as an owner.

Generally the thinking goes like this: 1) make lots of money, 2) have so much money you don’t know what to do with yourself, 3) buy a sports franchise.  And yes, in many respects, running a sports franchise is like running a regular business.  You have your secretaries, your accountants, your P.R. people, all the little guys that many other big companies have too, in addition to your CEO and your big money guys.

But sports is entertainment.  People seek sports as a refuge from their everyday lives.

That’s why it kills me– absolutely kills me– when teams are broken up over money.

Take the Suns for example.  Last year they were ready to dump Shaq on the Cavs at the trading deadline, not because he is getting old, but because they didn’t want to pay him his obscene contract, and figured if they could get a few great expiring contracts, that they could shave off a lot of money off their salary cap, and avoid paying the luxury tax.  The Suns were one game out of a playoff spot at the time.  Shaq ended up getting dealt anyways in the off-season, for a toothpick and a bag of yarn.

It’s one thing when you’re a bad team that needs to start over (ala: the Pirates).  It makes sense to try not to lose money when you lose lots of games.  But when you have a good team, albeit an expensive one, as an owner it is your unofficial duty to keep things intact.  People hate the Yankees, but you can never accuse them of not trying.  The day the Yankees make a cost-cutting move in an effort to trade one of their better players during the middle of a pennant race for a few nobodys just so they can lower their payroll is the day that Barry Bonds and the American public will sing Kumbaya.  It’s not going to happen.  So whether you love them or hate them, at least they always try their best to put a winning team on the field.

That’s the problem with sports nowadays.  In high school the goal is to put the best team on the field.  In college the same is true.  But once you get to the pros the game changes.  Money comes into play.  Money changes everything. Once athletes start getting paid, that means that owners have some kind of say.  The purity of the game, and the goal of putting the best team out there, sometimes gets pushed to the back in favor of saving a quick buck.

Now I understand the economy is tough, but if you own a sports team, what’s another 10 million dollars?  If you can’t afford that, well you probably shouldn’t be owning a team in the first place.

The NBA is so focused on the 2010 offseason, that the 2009-2010 season (the current one going on right now) has become practically obsolete.  You want a superstar?  He’s yours.  But make sure you give us cap flexibility in exchange.  With rumors that the league might be looking at a lockout in 2011, its possible the cash cutting might get worse.

Football is looking at an uncapped year potentially in 2010.  Baseball has no cap, and finally Bud Selig and friends stepped in and said to teams like the Marlins, “spend some freaking money.”  The Marlins ‘coincidentally’ signed Josh Johnson to a $39 million deal for four years a few days later.

Not everyone is the Yankees.  Not everyone is the Lakers.  But, there needs to be a reasonably leveled playing field.  If an owner doesn’t have the money or the interest to field a competitive team and his team is in rebuilding mode forever, then it’s time for him to sell.

Sports are a great form of entertainment, but there’s nothing entertaining about owners selling their franchises’ souls to make a quick buck.

If you buy a sports team– especially a small market one– prepare to cut your losses, but do it knowing that the joy of victory can easily outweigh the loss in money. It’s not like these owners are poor.  Like seriously!

So here’s a message to pro franchises– both big and small everywhere– please, we’re begging you, keep the sports world competitve.  Continue to take chances.  Understand that you’re not likely to make a killing, if any profit at all, but that the reward can be so much more.  If you can’t handle that, get out.  There are plenty of multi-cazillionaires who would kill to own a sports team.

You are very much replacable.

Photo: AP

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