Nader & League of Fans letter to MLB Commissioner Selig & Relocation Committee Chair Reinsdorf on amendment to DC stadium bill
Ralph Nader & the sports reform project League of Fans call for Bud Selig & Jerry Reinsdorf to stop trying to intimidate DC Council into withdrawing amendment
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Allan H. Selig
Commissioner, Major League Baseball
Jerry Reinsdorf
Chairman, Major League Baseball Relocation Committee
Dear Mr. Selig and Mr. Reinsdorf:
Finally, someone has stood up to your merciless bullying of the District of Columbia for this atrocious corporate welfare stadium deal.
DC Council Chair Linda Cropp sent a clear message on November 30th that she had concerns with the stadium bill but would let it pass through the first reading with expectations of something better. Cropp expressed that she would need some reasonable “concessions” from Major League Baseball before the second reading.
What was your answer to the Council? No concessions on sharing cost overruns. No concessions on the compensatory payment by the District to the team if the stadium is not completed on time. And no charitable fund commitment beyond devoting “net proceeds” from one exhibition game. That is simply offensive. No paltry concessions from you in exchange for a $584 million publicly-funded stadium project? No longer surprised by your level of avarice, we must express amazement at your unrelenting arrogance.
Major League Baseball is lucky that this sweetheart stadium deal was approved at all. Despite the modest amendment to the bill that you consider “wholly unacceptable,” this remains an awful deal for District residents with what would still amount to a 76 percent publicly-funded project and a $442 million subsidy to Major League Baseball. You wouldn’t require such a windfall if you were truly capitalists rather than corporate freeloaders on the taxpayers.
Don’t blame Ms. Cropp for this dissolving stadium deal. It would have self-destructed on its own given: the subordination of priorities for the necessities of many District residents and their children; the overwhelming opposition of an aroused and determined citizenry; and the numerous forthcoming challenges, legal and otherwise for the site you desire. Already, the costs for this debacle have gone through the roof.
Do yourselves a favor and spare the District and the nation’s capital your disrespectful intimidation tactics. The RFK Stadium site is still available and ready for Major League Baseball to attract and invest its own capital to renovate or build anew.
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Shawn McCarthy
League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
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Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
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Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books