League of Fans

The Green Bay Packers announced this week that their latest stock offering, the fifth in franchise history, had raised $67 million to help refurbish Lambeau Field, including the addition of 6700 seats.

The Packers are owned by the fans, not a wealthy owner operating with a profit-at-all-costs (PAAC) philosophy. The franchise is a publicly-owned […]

Governor Mark Dayton
Mayor R.T. Rybak
Minneapolis City Council

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It’s not too late to do the right thing.

There’s still time to stop this egregious public handout –in the form of a sparkling new publicly-financed stadium — to the ownership of the Minnesota Vikings, a privately-owned sports and entertainment […]

Ryan Lambert
Puck Daddy Blog
Yahoo! Sports

Dear Mr. Lambert:

Thank you for your interest in our letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, in which we called for a ban on fighting in the NHL.

While appreciating the passion in your commentary, we believe there were several misunderstandings, misstatements and unwarranted […]

Dear Attorney General Harris:

I bring to your attention a practice of staged or planned violence in the National Hockey Leagues’ games which has no place in the game other than to excite some fans. The enclosed article and letter to the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman describe the practice, facilitated and condoned by […]

The trend in youth sports is to push kids to specialize in one sport as early as 10 years old. (See ““Can Sport Specialization Cause Youth Injuries?“). The result is a huge increase in injuries like anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears and kids burning out on sports before they pick up their high school […]

Patrick Hruby has written an outstanding article on the subject of brain trauma and the implications for the future of football for Yahoo! Sports’ new online magazine ThePostGame. It’s eye-opening, scary, and impactful.

It’s hard to read this piece and not come away thinking that football’s days are numbered — at least as a […]

In a big-time sports version of the “99% vs. 1%,” the University of California-Berkeley recently opened its plush Simpson Student-Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC). The “One-Percenters” in this case are members of 13 varsity sports teams on campus. Not only is the general student body (36,142 total students) barred from using the new facility but […]

In an open letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on February 6th, the League of Fans stated that the Ontario Hockey League “bans fighting and all blows to the head,” as does the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), the NCAA, and other hockey organizations. While the Ontario Hockey League has indeed banned “staged fights” at […]