Misha: Great take! The franchise system in US is based on the leagues and the owners making as much $ as possible, while fans are an afterthought. Recently, the commissioner of MLB replied to a question on why it is so expensive for a family to go to an LA Dodger game by saying that if they feel it's too expensive, then they can just become fans of the less posh LA Angels.
Regarding why US fans don't revolt when a team moves cities, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there are so many sports to follow, the tribal nature of fandom in the US is diluted vs. that in Europe. Everyone here in the US has a favorite NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL (and possibly MLS) team and when you combine all that with, in my mind, the most tribal of all US sports, American college football, there is only so much tribalism to go around. Professional sports teams can be moved, but a university really cannot. Dan
Franchises are not clubs. Clubs will remain and football will never die even if supporters decide to give up on the top part of the game. Have your super duper league but leave real football to the rest of us. Thanks for writing this mate. Good work.
Thanks, Will! And yeah, I think the distinction franchise vs club is important here. One of the reasons I am against the Super League plans, because I can say that turning into a franchise circus long term.
in feldkirch ging vor 25 jahren die grosse tolle veu pleite, heute spielt man wieder ersteligaeishockey in feldkirch und der club heisst pioneers vorarlberg — beim tor grölen dafür ein paar von der sitzplatzreihe sehr ostentativ veu veu veu aber das sind halt unverbesserliche idioten
Misha: Great take! The franchise system in US is based on the leagues and the owners making as much $ as possible, while fans are an afterthought. Recently, the commissioner of MLB replied to a question on why it is so expensive for a family to go to an LA Dodger game by saying that if they feel it's too expensive, then they can just become fans of the less posh LA Angels.
Regarding why US fans don't revolt when a team moves cities, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there are so many sports to follow, the tribal nature of fandom in the US is diluted vs. that in Europe. Everyone here in the US has a favorite NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL (and possibly MLS) team and when you combine all that with, in my mind, the most tribal of all US sports, American college football, there is only so much tribalism to go around. Professional sports teams can be moved, but a university really cannot. Dan
Love the tribalism insight, makes a lot of sense!
Franchises are not clubs. Clubs will remain and football will never die even if supporters decide to give up on the top part of the game. Have your super duper league but leave real football to the rest of us. Thanks for writing this mate. Good work.
Thanks, Will! And yeah, I think the distinction franchise vs club is important here. One of the reasons I am against the Super League plans, because I can say that turning into a franchise circus long term.
in feldkirch ging vor 25 jahren die grosse tolle veu pleite, heute spielt man wieder ersteligaeishockey in feldkirch und der club heisst pioneers vorarlberg — beim tor grölen dafür ein paar von der sitzplatzreihe sehr ostentativ veu veu veu aber das sind halt unverbesserliche idioten
Diese unverbesserlichen Idioten wären dann wohl ich.
aber dich hab ich ja lieb