It seems, more and more, the business of sports is becoming public domain in recent years.  We’ve seen it first-hand here in the Boise market as the town’s minor-league baseball team, the Boise Hawks, makes an effort to get a new ballpark. 

The media has thrown around dollar figures ($25 million), locations, complications, you name it.  A couple weeks ago, one of the key figures in the ownership of the Chicago Cubs (Boise’s parent MLB organization) was in town, saying that improvements needed to be made to the team’s facility or else the Cubs would pull out. 

The owners of the Hawks, who are completely separate from the owners of the Cubs, have even whispered the dreaded “R” word – relocation. 

Maybe it’s just the way mass media is any more.  It’s such an information-hungry, fast-moving industry … maybe we’re just hearing about it more than ever.  Or perhaps I’m just more aware of it now that I work in the sports industry. 

The Montreal Expos move to Washington, DC.  The Seattle Supersonics move to Oklahoma City (don’t get me started on this).  The Atlanta Thrashers heading to Winnipeg.  The city of Los Angeles, in ways, in almost a blatant courtship to swipe someone’s NFL franchise.  Buffalo, Jacksonville, San Diego, whoever.  It seems someone is destined to move their football team to LA, it’s just a matter of who and when.  College athletics departments are changing conferences like you and I change pants. 

We see it at this level.  The Johnstown Chiefs became the Greenville Road Warriors.  The Victoria Salmon Kings withdrew from the ECHL so the franchise could join the Western Hockey League.  The Central Hockey League’s two finalists, Colorado (ECHL) and Louisiana (“gone dark”), have both left the league. 

Y’know what drives about 95 percent of it?  Money.  And I could be estimating low at 95 percent.  Because the remaining five percent links back to money quickly … for example, a better television deal which, in turn, generates more money both directly (rights fees) and indirectly (added exposure makes the product more appealing to sponsors). 

That’s the hard part for fans – they’re often the one who are held hostage by all of this. 

The WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers have come out and said they need 2,100 season ticket holders to be economically-viable.  Who gets hurt if they only reach 1,800 and move the franchise from Medicine Hat to (hypothetically) Trail, British Columbia?  Not the coach, not the players.  They just load up the equipment into a moving van and start rehearsing the cliché, “we’re so excited to be in Trail now” soundbites. 

It’s the 1,800 people who bought season tickets to support the Medicine Hat Tigers.  The kids with their foam fingers and autographed Tiger cap who have grown up watching players like Tristan King, dreaming of one day playing hockey at that level.  Those are the people who get hurt. 

And that’s the dirty underbelly being exposed.  In years past, Art Modell could back up his United moving trucks and sneak out under the cover of darkness, catching many by surprise.  Is anyone going to be the least bit surprised when (note I said “when,” not “if”) the Phoenix Coyotes finally pull up stakes and move to … well … anywhere else but Phoenix? 

Of course not.  Because the business of sports has become such big news that anyone who pays attention to the news knows that the Coyotes can’t draw flies in Glendale and can’t seem to find an owner – aside from the NHL itself – who actually wants to keep the team there. 

Who loses?  The fans.  The few that buy tickets and faithfully don the Coyotes jerseys and head to Glendale to support the team.  The worst part of it all is that they’ll have to watch (and listen to) their team is taken from them. 

The Yakima Bears, who play in the Northwest League alongside the Boise Hawks, have openly said they plan to play one more year in Yakima before they bolt town for fresh digs in Vancouver, Washington.  Talk about the ultimate in cruelty for the hard-core Bear fans in Yakima … “hey, we’re out of here just as soon as we can but, until then, please keep buying tickets and merchandise.” 

It’s not something any ownership group should aspire to do and I’m not insinuating or implying there’s anything sinister at play in Yakima.  But, when the allure of increased revenue comes calling, it happens.  It feels like the rate that it happens has increased from “occasionally” to “sometimes.”  

That’s the price of business.  And, unfortunately, the business of sports is front-page news, so we all see it coming.  We’re seeing it more.  And we’re seeing it start to hit close to home.  We just hope that the casualty of the almighty dollar isn’t the home-town Hawks.  Baseball in the summer, hockey in the winter.  Does it get better than that?