<story><title>Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team</title><url>http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sports-nfl-stadiums-insight-idUSKCN0VC0EP</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>scoofy</author><text>That seems extremely anti-competitive. I wonder if that rule could be challenged.</text></item><item><author>nhebb</author><text>The NFL changed the ownership rules, and the Green Bay model cannot be repeated elsewhere.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&amp;quot;The NFL does not allow corporate membership. Instead, it requires clubs to be wholly owned either by a single owner, or small group of owners, and requires that at least one owner owns a 1&amp;#x2F;3 stake in the team. The Packers are granted an exemption to this rule, as they have been a publicly owned corporation since before the rule was in place.&amp;quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;- &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Green_Bay_Packers_Board_of_Directors&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Green_Bay_Packers_Board_of_Dir...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>onetwotree</author><text>The Green Bay packers have an interesting approach to this problem, although it requires a fanatical fan base and special ownership provisions, and the fact that the team can&amp;#x27;t leave Green Bay (without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans, which will never, ever, happen).&lt;p&gt;When they want to improve their stadium, they issue stock and sell more season tickets.  This works because Packers stock cannot be sold or traded after purchase, and a season ticket is, for many working class Wisconsin families, an heirloom.  A friend who&amp;#x27;s a Wisconsin native was put on the waiting list for season tickets at birth, and is in his parents&amp;#x27; will to inherit his mother&amp;#x27;s ticket.  His mom is probably going to die before he breaks 10,000th on the list, so that position will go to his kids.  It&amp;#x27;s insane like that.&lt;p&gt;But it means that the taxpayers of Wisconsin, including those of us who, like myself, could really care less about football, don&amp;#x27;t have to foot the bill for maintenance and improvements to the Packers&amp;#x27; stadium.  But again, the Packers have a uniquely fanatical fan base, were created with provisions to keep them in Green Bay forever, and are owned by the fans.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tamana</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s a League. The entire reason for its existence is to be anticompetitive (in business).</text></comment>
<story><title>Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team</title><url>http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sports-nfl-stadiums-insight-idUSKCN0VC0EP</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>scoofy</author><text>That seems extremely anti-competitive. I wonder if that rule could be challenged.</text></item><item><author>nhebb</author><text>The NFL changed the ownership rules, and the Green Bay model cannot be repeated elsewhere.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;&amp;quot;The NFL does not allow corporate membership. Instead, it requires clubs to be wholly owned either by a single owner, or small group of owners, and requires that at least one owner owns a 1&amp;#x2F;3 stake in the team. The Packers are granted an exemption to this rule, as they have been a publicly owned corporation since before the rule was in place.&amp;quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;- &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Green_Bay_Packers_Board_of_Directors&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Green_Bay_Packers_Board_of_Dir...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>onetwotree</author><text>The Green Bay packers have an interesting approach to this problem, although it requires a fanatical fan base and special ownership provisions, and the fact that the team can&amp;#x27;t leave Green Bay (without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans, which will never, ever, happen).&lt;p&gt;When they want to improve their stadium, they issue stock and sell more season tickets.  This works because Packers stock cannot be sold or traded after purchase, and a season ticket is, for many working class Wisconsin families, an heirloom.  A friend who&amp;#x27;s a Wisconsin native was put on the waiting list for season tickets at birth, and is in his parents&amp;#x27; will to inherit his mother&amp;#x27;s ticket.  His mom is probably going to die before he breaks 10,000th on the list, so that position will go to his kids.  It&amp;#x27;s insane like that.&lt;p&gt;But it means that the taxpayers of Wisconsin, including those of us who, like myself, could really care less about football, don&amp;#x27;t have to foot the bill for maintenance and improvements to the Packers&amp;#x27; stadium.  But again, the Packers have a uniquely fanatical fan base, were created with provisions to keep them in Green Bay forever, and are owned by the fans.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>fnordfnordfnord</author><text>Private company, go start yer own football league if you don&amp;#x27;t like it, etc.</text></comment>