ISSUE: Unemployment, particularly among the young and minorities; declining tax base in our cities; blight in the intercity; downtown “revitalization”; City Pride; University payola scandals and problems with “amateurism” rules.
IDEA: Municipal Sports League.
We need to exploit the last bastion of amateurism in this county, the collage athlete, for the common good. We need to set-up a Municipal Sports League as an alternative to Collage sports.
A few commentary by Frank Deford will help with some background. Here’s a link to Frank’s articles:
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/03/138919312/ncaa-still-stalled-by-amateur-hour-thinking
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103571848
Lawrence O’Donnell’s comments about Socialism in the NFL are also relevant. (Sorry, can’t find a link to the original comment but here’s a link to the “rewrite”: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41500793#41500793 )
The idea is that the Municipal Sports League would serve as an alternative for players who want to play ball but don’t want to go (directly) to collage. Eligibility would be restricted to players between seventeen and twenty-four. Players would be paid a salary, of course, plus they could keep a percentage of any endorsement deal. After eligibility plays could go on the university if they so choose, or to the Pros. But here’s the thing: All the profits from the League would go directly to the host cities for schools, hospitals, road and bridge repair/construction, community development, etc.
Let’s face it. Sports is a “cash-cow” in this county (USA). Now Universities have a monopoly on that cash, or more particularly on the source of that cash: the raw talent of our armature athletes. They exploit these athletes to feed their over-bloated sports organization. Very little of the money generated goes to academics. We need to break that monopoly and use that raw talent for the common good. The League would do just that, and get the schools back to focusing on education, and help free them from all the payola regulations and scandals.
With the League the money would go directly to the host cities. We all know the problems that our cities are facing today. The League would be a good source of revenue. No need for more taxes. Cities might even be able to cut taxes. The regular influx of fans to downtown sports arenas would spin-off jobs and profits to the local economy. Downtown businesses (bars and restaurants) would see an increase in profit from increased consumer traffic. The League teams would also be a source community pride, and create good-natured rivalry among local towns.
For it to work the League would have to get the players right out of high school. Fans want to see the up-and coming stars, they are not interested in old has-beens and no-names. That’s what makes this idea different from the semi-pro leagues that have come and gone.
Another twist: the Head Coach would be an elected official. This would encourage community involvement and motivate fans to move from the suburbs into the city to participate, thereby increasing the city’s tax base.
Done right the league could create jobs, raise the tax base of our cities, build community pride, and free our athletes from the current system of indentured servitude, all without raising taxes. Done right it could even help lower taxes.