Through misleading deals, tax breaks, and false promises, capitalists and politicians plunder public resources for their own gain.
What do sports fans, their elected representatives, and perpetually cheated upon spouses have in common?
They routinely take the cheaters back. The cheaters know this, and thus there really is no reason for them to change.
The latest example is in Washington, DC where the city council is likely to approve a $515 million publicly funded deal to keep the Wizards of the National Basketball Association and the Capitals of the National Hockey League in the District.
The cheater is billionaire Ted Leonsis, who is the owner of both teams and has been having an “affair” with the state of Virginia for the better part of the last year. They say Virginia is for lovers.
The state offered him a $2 billion dollar plan to build an arena at Potomac Yard in Northern Virginia. But the state legislature refused to be a rubber stamp for Governor Glenn Youngkin, who has presidential aspirations. Also, to their credit, Northern Virginia labor unions rejected the proposal because the ultra-conservative Youngkin would not commit to using union labor in the construction of the arena. Their primary objective was that taxpayers should not invest in a project that will perpetuate low wage jobs for local workers. The overwhelming majority of those workers will be Latino and or Black and if they are non-union will have fewer workplace protections.
The labor unions were right. But will the DC deal guarantee what the Virginia deal did not? It is highly unlikely. In fact, the case can be made that the teams were never seriously considering leaving the city. What they were serious about was securing an alternative which they could use as leverage to fleece taxpayers to get what they want.
While Washington, DC is among the most expensive places to live in the entire country, their elected officials choose to subsidize a billionaire owner of sports franchises rather than invest the $515 million in constructing the affordable housing that is sorely needed.
Sadly, Washington is not the only city subjected to these thefts of public resources. In Oakland, the city filed a federal lawsuit against its former team, the National Football League Raiders, who moved to Las Vegas for the 2020 season. The city’s principal claim was of antitrust activity and collusion with the other NFL owners, who collected millions in relocation fees once they approved the move. Meanwhile, the city of Oakland was left with the last of the “dinosaur” multi-use facilities, the Oakland Alameda Coliseum, from which the baseball team is in the process of leaving as well. Add to this the fact that the National Basketball Association Warriors moved to San Francisco.
If the baseball team leaves, Oakland will become the only city in the country that once was home to three professional sports teams yet lost them all. The Raiders have left the city twice. An additional insult to injury is the fact that the city’s lawsuit was dismissed which means that the city is still paying a debt for a team that is no longer there. The city has made a final offer to extend the lease of the coliseum which is due to expire this year, all in a last-minute attempt to keep the baseball team in Oakland.
While the details vary, the fundamental process of sports teams pimping taxpayers for new construction or renovation of stadiums and arenas under the threat of the team moving, is the historical play book. This is especially insulting because team owners, like Leonsis, are billionaires. He is worth an estimated $3.1 billion.
Such behavior is the norm under capitalism in sports and in other businesses. Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, yet New York representatives offered him a $2.5 billion windfall in tax breaks and subsidies to move Amazon operations to the city. The promises, as is the case with sports teams, are the same: jobs, “urban renewal,” which is code for gentrification. The fact is, in the case of Amazon, non-local residents will fill most of their best jobs. The remaining jobs are overwhelmingly low paying, part-time, and/or seasonal. This is true of sports as well, except most of their jobs offer no benefits.
It should also be noted that while politicians tout the jobs coming in, they conveniently ignore math when it comes to jobs that are lost, which are mostly provided by small businesses. In Washington, some of the nearby eateries will be displaced to make space for the current arena renovation and expansion. In other words, public tax dollars are merely subsidizing the enrichment of the few who are least in need. Arenas promotes a form of business gentrification. It is the typical capitalism playbook both in and outside of sports.
It is important to be clear why this theft of public resources continues to happen. The simple answer is that the politicians that sign off of these “deals” do not represent the best interest or will of the people. They represent the Ted Leonsis types of the world or more broadly, global capitalist interests. They do so at the expense of the basic needs of the masses and then, along with their corporate media partners, blame the people for their lack of basic needs such as housing, health care and access to education. We need to take note of what author Malaika Jabali says in her recent book, “Its not you, its Capitalism: Why its time to break up and move on!”
How do people fight back against this ongoing scheme to give to the rich? Two things are essential. There must be a commitment to local organized struggle, and a willingness to walk away and let the teams leave. The willingness to let teams leave must be part of a larger political struggle which would stop the theft of the people's money.
Ironically, the second need is more difficult than the first. Getting folks organized around an issue that is of importance to them is not anywhere near as difficult as getting them to let go of that with which they have an emotional bond. Both sports teams and philandering spouses know this and are all too happy to exploit that relationship
Just as that philandering spouse will keep doing what they are doing until the aggrieved spouse has had enough, so will sports franchises. The absence of boundaries and a line in the sand when dealing with the predatory entities called sports teams is tantamount to having a neon sign on your back that says, “Exploit me.” Will some cities lose their teams? Yes, but one should never cry long when a partner, primarily responsible for the unhealthy relationship, leaves.
So, I say to the people of both Oakland and Washington; organize and resist. This plea includes but is not limited to sports fans. Neither franchise deserves a break, and neither does capitalism.
Gus Griffin is a DC area-based independent sportswriter, a member of the Black Alliance for Peace Africa Team and the Ujima People’s Progress Party.
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