Read the entire OpEd here on the Oregonian website.

Baseball fans should take a swing at private ownership

IN MY OPINION
By Alex Berger
The Oregonian
Saturday, July 24, 2004

By now most Oregonians know the pros and cons of The Great Major League Baseball Debate. Personally, I'm tired of the whole argument.

Yes, I believe that money should go toward schools before it funds a new stadium. Especially given the possibility that taxpayers may be forced to subsidize the stadium if enough tickets aren't sold, a la PGE Park. But darned if I don't love the game of baseball. So I have a proposal that beats the stadium finance committee's $344 million "wishful thinking" plan, considering baseball officials want closer to $350 million anyway.

Why not have Portlanders who want a major league baseball team buy a stadium themselves?

Impossible, you say?

Maybe not. Green Bay, a substantially smaller market than Portland (population 102,000) operates arguably the most popular football franchise in the United States, not to mention the only stadium in the country that actually makes money. Both are made possible by fan ownership, literally.

It all started in 1923 when, in the face of bankruptcy, the club was converted into a "nonprofit entity" at an Elks Club meeting. There, local merchants raised $5,000 by selling 1,000 shares at $5 apiece. Three more stock drives followed at various times in the club's history.

Today, 111,507 people own 4,748,910 shares in the Green Bay Packers. No single shareholder can own more than 200,000 shares, safeguarding against individual control over the club. Every shareholder has the right to vote for a board of directors that makes decisions concerning the franchise -- trades, salaries, everything. Only one member of the board, the president, receives compensation.

Portland could conceivably adopt the Green Bay model. It would just be a matter of determining whether enough baseball fans are willing to buy stakes in a new stadium -- $200 a share seems reasonable. At that price the stadium finance committee would have to sell about 1.75 million shares for a $350 million facility.

Of course, there is still the price of a Major League Baseball franchise to discuss. These days that can run $200 million. When that comes up, sell another million shares.

This seems like a lot of shares, but the total is still less than half the shares owned by Green Bay fans.

Besides, it would be worth it. Affordable ticket prices all but guarantee 28,000 fans a game. To this day, Packers tickets never cost more than $28 apiece. Also, fan ownership can prevent the threat of relocation because the Packers Articles of Incorporation state that any profits from a sale must go to a nonprofit memorial to soldiers.

If we adopted the Packers model, the city wouldn't have to add tax pressure to area businesses, and taxes on players' salaries would go where they're needed rather than to the stadium, as proposed by the stadium committee.

If fans were unwilling to buy enough shares to lure a team, we would know that Portland doesn't deserve one. Everybody's happy. Just imagine if fans had owned the Blazers before Bob Whitsitt got the chance to trade Jermaine O'Neal for Shawn Kemp.

Unfortunately, a major obstacle prevents this eventuality: It is against the rules.

Though Major League Baseball allows for-profit corporations to own clubs, it restricts ownership by not-for-profit corporations.

End of story? No, that can be changed by an act of legislation. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon submitted a bill legalizing a type of public sports team ownership last year, unfortunately to no avail.

So if you want to bring Major League Baseball to Portland but are wary of the argument, maybe you should call your congressman.

Alex Berger is a baseball fan who lives in the Sylvan area of Portland.