Riches take place of fan loyalty

Published 12:00 am Saturday, February 17, 2001

MICHAEL KIRAL

Do you live in a city that has a professional sports franchise? Check the morning paper just to be sure. With the way of sports in this age, it’s here today, gone off to greater riches tomorrow. Loyalty to a city and its fans have gone the way of the reserve clause, the tri-colored basketballs and leather helmets. Luxury boxes and seat licenses have taken the place of bleacher bums and the knothole gang. Ask fans in Baltimore, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Cleveland and Houston how it feels to have an NFL franchise pulled from under you. Of course, Baltimore and St. Louis in turn wooed other teams from other cities while Cleveland and Houston have since regained teams through expansion. That leaves Los Angeles, the nation’s second largest television market, out in the cold. How would you like to be a fan of the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins and constantly be surrounded by talk of your club moving? Or live in places like Birmingham and San Antonio and constantly be the target of teams wanting to move only to be snubbed time and time again. On the other hand, places like Miami, Phoenix and Vancouver have clamored for years to join the professional lineup only to have trouble supporting them now. Unfortunately, New Orleans fans are now finding out they are not immune to this malady. Saints owner Tom Benson is now seeking a sweeter deal for his team from the state. Reports have the team moving from everywhere from San Antonio to Gulfport to Jackson to the northshore or the westbank. Never mind that a trip to the northshore would mean a 24-mile trip over the Causeway for many of its current fans and that Jackson has lost two minor league baseball teams the last two years. At the same time the state is negotiating with Benson, New Orleans officials are courting the Vancouver Grizzlies. The Crescent City was once home to Jazz, who, despite tremendous fan support, especially for that time in the NBA, left to go to Utah. But that was in the days of $2 tickets and when the city was home to a number of major companies. Now the average is over $50 and the city has lost its last Fortune 500 company, Entergy. Despite a new arena, New Orleans would have a hard time competing against Louisville, Nashville and St. Louis for the Grizzlies. New Orleans’ situation is not at all unique. It seems to be annual occurrence that a franchise is looking go where the grass (and money) is greener. While baseball has not had a team move since the early 1970s and the NBA since the early 1980s, the geography of the NFL and especially the NHL has gone through a drastic change. It’s a sad turn of events that television markets and stadium perks have now replaced fan support. Nearly every pro league got its start in small towns, places like Rockford and Canton. Brooklyn was part of the heart and soul for generations before moving to the bright lights of Los Angeles in 1958. For good or bad, teams become part of the social fabric of a city. When that team pulls up its anchor and sails away to find the riches of new worlds, not only is the financial hit tremendous, but the city loses a bit of is soul as well.