Monopolization of sports

As changes are often being made to sports, owners and teams are losing sight of what sports are actually about

BY ALEXANDER BRAZDA, STAFF WRITER

Whether in-person or on a television screen, many fans across the world pay thousands of dollars to see their favorite sports teams compete. While the high revenue garnered is critical in funding the expenses, business in sports results in the leisure activities becoming monopolized, directing the team owners and executives away from what really matters: winning championships and uniting fans.

According to Medium, fans are the primary financial contributors to sporting leagues. This is because the main goal of a sports team owner is to sell as many tickets as possible and maintain a large audience. There are many factors that go into achieving financial prosperity as a team executive, including securing athletic talent, obtaining advertisements and creating team merchandise. However, the monopolization of sports has decreased the purpose of large fan bases because fans are helping teams become more wealthy rather than supporting them towards winning championships.

“The monopolization of sports has taken away so much from not only the motivation to win championships but the pride to hold the [ball] in your hands,” senior Andres Arzola said. “At the end of the day, the money is a plus but it has taken away from the genuine and pure admiration from the game.”

According to CNBC, billionaire businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban stated that buying the team in 2000 never crossed his mind as an investment. Nonetheless, he evidently focuses on the finances of the organization, having dramatically increased the net worth of the team from $280 million to $2.4 billion in his 20 years as the owner. This is seen in how despite being ranked in the top ten teams for total net worth by Forbes, the Mavericks have only won one championship in the last two decades. They have also missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons. The same goes for the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors franchises, as they were the two teams that generated the most revenue in the 2019-2020 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, despite both missing the playoffs and being ranked at the bottom of their respective divisions.

“Mark Cuban is a businessman. He doesn’t care about the team just as long as they make the money and that’s what sports shouldn’t be about because they were made for people to enjoy not to bet or profit off of," senior Wilson Villaraga said.

Another issue that arises from executives monopolizing sports is the pressure put on local governments around the country to build stadiums and arenas, with threats to move teams if their demands are not met. According to Rodney Fort, Washington State University Professor and co-author of “Hard Ball: The Abuse of Power in Pro Sports Teams,” team owners have generated so much power and money from advertisement outlets and ticket sales that local politicians are often unable to deny their construction demands — and typically have no intention to do so. This all goes to show how far team owners are willing to go to preserve their businesses and generate more income.

“The monopoly power of leagues is at the root of essentially every problem that plagues pro team sports, from competitive balance to out-of-sight player salaries to the blackmailing of cities,” Fort said in his book.

As our country continues to move into the future of sports, owners and fans must decide if they would rather focus more on earning money for their teams or winning championship titles, because as of right now they are losing focus on the actual sport. Ultimately, power must be shifted from the team owners to the people that make sports possible — the athletes and fans— to preserve the true value of sports.