By Ken Reed
Mile High Stadium.
It once was the iconic name of the Denver Broncos’ home for decades.
But when Broncos’ owner Pat Bowlen demanded that the taxpayers of the Denver metro area build him a new sports palace — or else — things got messy.
The taxpayers of the Denver metro area stepped […]
By Ken Reed
The citizens of St. Louis not only found out that they lost their NFL team to Los Angeles this week, they also discovered they still owe $100 million in debt on the bonds used to finance the Edward Jones Dome, the stadium that was publicly-financed to bring the Rams to St. […]
By Ken Reed
A plan to build a new football stadium in St. Louis is moving forward and the city’s citizens won’t be allowed to vote on it.
“We should have the right to check a box yes or no,” says St. Louis resident Mark Kustelski. “Whatever the city decides I’m fine, but it’s […]
By Ken Reed
Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker is running for president. On the campaign trail, he loves to position himself as an anti-tax, small-government candidate.
But when it comes to funding sports palaces for wealthy team owners in his state, he’s fine with using taxpayer money.
Walker is pushing a plan to build a […]
Yesterday, I wrote about how the NFL uses the Los Angeles market as a blackmail tool for league owners to use as leverage to get new stadiums or stadium improvements in their respective cities. (See “New Kroenke LA Stadium“)
“Build me a new sports palace or I’m moving the team to LA,” is […]
By Ken Reed
Multi-billionairre Stan Kroenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams, says he plans to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles on the site of the old Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood.
We’ll see.
Unofficially, 17 NFL teams have used the open Los Angeles market as a threat to secure a new stadium […]
By Ken Reed
Cobb County, Georgia (a suburb of Atlanta) announced this month that it will be putting $300 million (some reports have pegged the figure even higher) in public financing towards a new stadium for the Atlanta Braves.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Cobb County are dealing with an $86.4 million school budget shortfall. […]
By Ken Reed
In a recent article he penned, Minnesota state senator John Marty wrote that the millions of public dollars going to build the wealthy owners of the highly profitable Minnesota Vikinigs a new stadium is evidence of warped priorities.
“Mr. (Zygi) Wilf’s expensive lobbying effort and his generous campaign contributions won the […]
Dan Wetzel has an excellent column on the Minnesota Vikings stadium issue. It includes a discussion about the absurdity of fans paying for a wealthy owner’s new stadium but still being subject to the blackout rule.
Here’s Wetzel’s conclusion:
Minnesota is going to get a new stadium. The Vikings are going to stay put. […]
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 […]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #32 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Prolific Author Joe Posnanski Joins the Show – Posnanski is one of America’s best sportswriters and has twice been named the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors. We chat about his new book, “Why We Love Baseball,” his new Substack newsletter called Joe Blogs, and we cover topics including how baseball treats its fans, MLB’s numerous rule changes this past season, how the sport can become more fan-friendly, the greatness of Negro Leagues champion Buck O’Neil, and much more.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #31 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Foul Ball Safety Is Still an Important Issue at Ballparks – Our guests are Jordan Skopp, founder of FoulBallSafety.com and Greg Wilkowski, a Chicago based attorney. We discuss the historical problem of foul balls injuring fans and why some teams are still hesitant to put up protective netting in some minor league and college baseball parks.
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
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. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
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.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
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