Are You With the Owners or Players? I’m with the Fans

by Scott Weiss

When work stoppages have loomed in professional sports in the past, the media has always posed the question as to whether sports fans would side with the owners or players. Would fans back the billionaires or millionaires? The problem is that neither side has ever been worthy of sports fan’s support. There have been a total of eighteen work stoppages in professional sports (MLB 8, NFL 4, NBA 3, and NHL 3). Another four potential work stoppages are on the horizon as the collective bargaining agreements in the big four sports all expire in 2011. If you think that the best interest of sports fans has ever been considered by either side, you are sorely mistaken. The almighty buck has been the focus of the owners and players, not Joe sports fan. It is hard to blame the owners and players for their disregard for fans, because despite the work stoppages fans have dutifully filed back into sports stadiums.

I for one will definitely not be backing the owners or players in the collective bargaining wars of 2011. The group that I will be backing is sports fans. The time has come for sports fans to stand up and say that we will not take it anymore. We will not stand idly by and watch the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL drag us through a nightmarish year of labor strife. The only way for sports fans to wield any power is through a collective voice. I am excited that the Sports Fans Coalition has presented itself as the voice that sports fans have been yearning for.

Scott Weiss is the Local Chapter Chair for SFC-New York/New Jersey.  He has been involved in the sports fans advocacy movement since 2000.  He is a life long fan of the Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers.

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