Sports are everywhere. Whether one is a diehard fan who watches every game, or an indifferent fan who watches for a few minutes while flipping through the channels, sports are undoubtedly a massive part of living in modern America. Excitement is unlimited, as even the most uninterested person could find themselves invested for a few minutes of a game. The options are plentiful, with most major cities boasting multiple sports teams for their resident’s entertainment. In today’s media and population, where sports are heavily featured, teams and players are directly in the spotlight. For many cities, a sports team is all that they have, and it becomes a selling point to potential residents and investors. With money being the main motivation for most teams and cities, the fact that relocation and expansion are once again prominent should not be surprising. However, the importance of sport’s teams to their respective cities may be overstated. The majority of power which sports teams have comes from the intangible attachment to the city and fans around it. This results in cities and players making negative decisions which can hinder economic and population growth for years to come. The uneven playing field that the two sides reside on still seems to be overlooked, as poor decisions are still being made today. Since the popularity of sports doesn’t appear to be fading, one can expect even more relocation and expansion to occur in the future. With the increase in sports team’s relocation and expansion, cities, players, and teams involved should proceed with caution, as the financial and political impact are not worth it.   

First, professional sports players should be aware of the negative financial implications of relocation and expansion. Since players have zero input when it comes to the relocation of a sports team, it is easy to see how they could be impacted negatively. Specifically, the negative impact on players can be seen in the Rams’ move from St. Louis to Los Angeles. The first negative of relocation for the players on the Rams is the higher state income tax that comes with being located in California. Instead of the 6.0% income tax they faced in St. Louis, they are now looking at a 13.3% income tax in California, which also happens to be the highest income tax in the country. This is an astonishing increase of income tax which is a result of moving across the country. (McCann and Raiola) While this income tax increase would only affect players making over one million dollars a year, this is the majority of players on the Rams since the NFL minimum salary is nearly half a million dollars. Another reason that the move hurts Rams players is because of the increased cost of living in California. For an average person moving from St. Louis to California, the housing costs increases by an unimaginable 193%, while transportation costs increase by a sizable 29%. Not only that, but even the cost of groceries increase with the move across the country. (McCann and Raiola) For example, estimations show that Rams running back Todd Gurley will lose over $400,000 due to the move from St. Louis to Los Angeles. It is mind boggling and should be downright frightening that any person or player could lose that much money due to a decision which he had zero input on. 

Next, it’s time to address the elephant in the room. The majority of the Rams players are extremely wealthy, and most are even classified as millionaires. It might be easy to scoff at the loss of $400,000 when the end result is still a gain of over 4 million dollars. But try push the exact quantities out of mind, as that isn’t the most important takeaway from those statistics. The fact remains that these players had no input in the negotiation process, nor the final decision. This means that although the may make more money than the average person, their lives were still jolted, as they become forced to move to a new city with much higher costs. This means that their families were uprooted from St. Louis, their kids forced to leave behind friends they’ll likely never see again. It’s an unfair and sickening way of doing business, no matter how large the paycheck is at the end of the week. 

Not only are player’s financials being negatively impacted by team’s owners and executives, but sports relocation and expansion puts the owners and executives themselves in immediate jeopardy. Part of the large decision that is deciding to relocate or expand a sports team is anticipating and being willing to take a giant risk. This is because the security of having a city that has years of evidence of supporting a sports team is now gone, and a brand-new market awaits. With a new market and city comes plenty of complications and challenges. For example, as the National Hockey League proceeds with their expansion to Las Vegas, some large uncertainties await and loom large. The new team needs players, and starting from scratch puts the new team in immediate danger. One of the main priorities of this new franchise is to establish a fan base, but that may be harder than it seems since the on-ice product may not immediately be competitive. Another problem this new Las Vegas team could face is actually completely out of their control. That potential problem would be the weather, since Las Vegas is drastically warmer than the majority of hockey cities. (Layton) This is something that league executives knew before approving the expansion, so it seems that they don’t think it will be a problem. Another challenge that the Las Vegas team could face would be the reputation of Las Vegas itself. This may sound confusing at first, but Las Vegas is known for their large tourism focus, as people travel from all over the world to visit. Because of this, the arena which hosts the Vegas team could be swarmed with tourists who are merely visiting. While this may not seem like a negative initially, the long-term effects could be devastating. Since the fans in attendance at the beginning may be from all over the country, they will more than likely already have an NHL team which they root for. This is a negative because the more fans of other teams that fill the seats, the less new fans from the Vegas area are present to build a fan base. (Layton) If new fans aren’t on board from the start, then the team will have trouble building a fan base, which is one of the most valuable things a sports team needs to survive. All of these potential problems are things team and league executives must consider when deciding on a relocation and expansion. If it seems like a lot of trouble for an unknown entity, that’s because it is. Teams and the league are better off staying put and making their profit from the places they know best, instead of risking it all for a little more money. 

Frankly, it isn’t just players who get the short end of the stick when sports teams relocate. Team employees often fall victim to sports relocation as well. The only difference is, most of the team employees aren’t millionaires like the players. It isn’t as easy for an average person working their hardest to move across the country overnight. Especially when the move results in a skyrocketing cost of living. The problem is, teams don’t think to compensate these employees when it comes to a relocation, so the employee is then tasked with making a difficult decision. Do they choose to stay with the team, with no pay raise and a cross country move directly in their future? Or do they leave their job, putting themselves and any family they may be supporting into financial jeopardy? It becomes an excruciating decision, one that has no easy answer. But the bottom line remains that the decision itself is unfair, as the employees have no say in the matter. They don’t receive a pay raise to compensate them or the power to negate any relocation, so they become stuck in a powerless position. The resulting financial impact can be devastating, no matter who is it involves. And even if it feels hard to sympathize with the players who are affected, it’s hard not to feel crushed for the employees whose lives have drastically changed. Not only are team employees affected, but stadium employees fair even worse. While employees directly connected to the team are likely able to keep their jobs, the stadium employees in St. Louis aren’t so lucky. When the football stadium in St. Louis becomes, unused and forgotten, their jobs will likely be lost. It is not an option to move for every single concession worker or ticket puncher. While they may have escaped the possibility of moving, what remains are hardworking individuals with no jobs and many having families to support. 

Not only do players and teams face these negative situations when it comes to sports relocation and expansion, but the biggest loser in all of these situations are the cities involved. First, they face the same if not larger financial consequences. This applies to cities that are gaining teams as well as the cities that are losing teams. For example, St. Louis is now crippled with debt due to the Rams moving to Los Angeles. Economists estimate that St. Louis will lose an astonishing 80 million dollars per year of economic impact now that the Rams are gone. (Blume) Not only is St. Louis losing an annual amount per year, but they also had the opportunity for enormous growth. When St. Louis passed up on the opportunity to build a new stadium down by the riverfront, one study estimates that doing so lost over 900 million dollars in potential profit. Not only that, but St. Louis stood to add over 2,000 jobs in the next few years due to this large investment. (Blume) Instead, the city has lost its most popular sports franchise due to relocation while also angering a large part of their population who heavily supported the Rams. While some economists say that having a sports franchise isn’t as much of a financial impact as one might think, that isn’t really the point when it comes to St. Louis. Since St. Louis already had a team for a while, they had a steady source of some income (even if it may be minor) which was a positive for the city, especially if residents were on board and big fans of the team. 

There is an assumption out there which assumes that a sports franchise coming to a city is an absolute, uncontested positive thing. However, the truth is far from that simple. Economists usually don’t tend to agree on a lot, but the economic impact on cities that sports teams have is one of the things on which they do agree. When asked about the impact of a professional sports team on a city, one Temple University sports economist said flatly, “There is no impact” (Bergman) To explain this surprising proclamation, Chicago is used as real world that this claim is accurate. Since Chicago has five major sports teams, it makes sense that they would feel the impact of the teams the most. Surprisingly, the same economist found that, “If every sports team in Chicago were to suddenly disappear, the impact on the Chicago economy would be a fraction of 1 percent.” (Bergman) This may seem impossible at first, but there is an obvious reason why that number comes in so low. This is because sports teams are plainly not a new source of economic impact. Do people care a decent amount and spend money towards the team? Yes, but that isn’t the point. The problem is that the money being spent on the new sports franchise is actually just money that people of the city would’ve spent on some form of entertainment regardless, but just so happen to put it towards the sports franchise. Simply put, “Football would shift rather than create new economic activity.” (Rueben and Auxier) This is where most cities and people come out confused, since they see the profit numbers and figure that the sports team is doing wonders for the city. But the sad realization is that most people only have a limited amount of money to spend on entertainment per month or per year, so the choice to spend it on the new sports franchise is actually not adding to the city’s economy, but rather redistributing it. Since the wealthy sports team and owners are now getting most of the entertainment profit of the city, smaller retailers and businesses are losing customers and losing money. So, if anything, the sports team has a large negative financial impact on the cities they reside in. It’s a sad truth to face that the rich get richer while the rest of the city is forced to survive and keep their heads above water, while they can. 

Finally, the negative political impact which goes along with the expansion and relocation of sports is something teams should consider. After exposing the monetary truths of sports teams and their cities, it’s a wonder that these cities are still begging and coming in packs to try and attract sports teams to their area. It is also a wonder why any city would choose to make large investments into something which doesn’t impact their economy nearly enough. But when examined closer, this phenomenon can be easily explained. It has almost nothing to do with the monetary value of a sports team, but instead has to do with the intangible relationship a sports team creates with their city. It comes down to the residents of the cities, and how they view the teams which inhabit their city. While cities may sometimes want to move on from a sports team, doing so would be political suicide to any officials involved. This is because of the deep bond a sports team can create with the people who root for them. In one study, “Psychologists have compared the loss of a sports franchise to the trauma experienced at the death of a loved one.” (Euchner 5) This is an extreme comparison, but certainly makes a point. It also explains why cities may fight to keep sports teams even if it isn’t in their best interest. The backlash from fans and other residents of the cities could result in a politician losing power due to causing unhappiness throughout the city. Simply put, “The attention paid to sports far exceeds its importance to the city economy.” (Euchner 15) This is why sports teams have an unfair advantage when it comes to negotiating new stadiums and other things of that nature. They identify the importance of the sports team to the people around them, and use it to leverage the negotiations in their favor. If cities decide to cave into the demands of the team, it can cause an economic disaster for their city. The politicians involved put their careers ahead of the well-being of their cities, and sports teams know it and feed on it. But anything for another term in office, right? 

With the increase in sports team’s relocation and expansion, cities, players, and teams involved should proceed with caution, as the financial and political impact are not worth it. In modern day America, it is nearly impossible to avoid everything sports related. Sports bring people together, and are a great way to form bonds and relationships with people. However, the impact on the economy which sports teams have has long been overstated. Cities do not need sports teams as much as they think they do, and chasing them and throwing money at them is always a detriment to their city. Along with that, the political implications of having a sports team is dangerous territory to enter. Since fans will become attached to the team in no time, the city immediately loses all of its leverage. This results in deals that aren’t beneficial to cities, and can end up leaving them in horrid financial shape. With the truth exposed, cities and players should avoid sports relocation and expansion to the best of their abilities, and treat them like the plague they are. 
