The National Basketball Association, the National Football League and Major League Baseball have long been a bastion of wealthy white owners, almost exclusively composed of one-percenters whose social, economic and political influence have influenced nearly every facet of society.
Many of them, past and present, have been or are substantial financial contributors to the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as the campaigns of presidential, congressional and senatorial candidates. Additionally, they have collectively spent tens of millions of dollars over many decades on lobbyists representing a multitude of their personal and business interests.
The media and general public barely blink when an owner is linked to politics or influences policy. Yet, in what is the epitome of hypocrisy, athletes are by and large held to a completely different and biased standard. A plurality of sports fans and media, consciously as much as subconsciously, continue to take the position that it is an athlete’s place, particularly Black athletes, to simply perform on the field, on the court and in the boxing ring, and just be thankful for the so-called privilege of being a highly paid professional athlete.
This perspective dates back to the early 20th century, when heavyweight champion Jack Johnson fearlessly defied societal norms, followed by Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Arthur Ashe and many others. All these men in some form represent the essence of patriotism, a word that has become mischaracterized and co‑opted by right-wing zealots whose primary agenda is to resist and reverse progressive change in this country.
As Black men being shot and killed by law enforcement across the United States has disturbingly become commonplace, recorded and shared on social media for the global community to dissect, the aforementioned owners are confronted with what is seemingly a growing movement of athletes exercising their birth and constitutional right to speak out and demonstrate against societal injustices and inequities.
It is indeed a mushrooming concern of owners that their bottom lines will be compromised. That’s always their central worry, especially NFL owners, who have seen their sport face the most outward and visible signs of protest by their athletes, prompted by the San Francisco 49ers 28-year-old, biracial quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
The NFL, the most popular and highest-revenue generating North American sports league—producing $12 billion in 2015—is acutely aware that the majority of its ardent fan base is white, male, politically conservative and over 45 years old, a group demonstrably disconnected from, and far less tolerant and understanding of, issues affecting racial minorities than left-of-center, culturally diverse millennials, which a majority of the league’s players are.
The owners and league commissioner Roger Goodell, who they paid $31.7 million for the 2015-16 season to keep the players in line among his other responsibilities, are hoping the protests do not intensify in scope and numbers, which would compel them to directly confront the issue and the effort to legislate punitive measures.
What should not be expected is the NFL as a collective body publically acknowledging the troubling racial and cultural divide permeating this nation and illuminated by the current presidential contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. One should not expect any NFL public service announcements decrying the killings of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland or Terence Crutcher in Oklahoma or Nathan Manning in San Diego, who held a master’s degree in classical guitar and suffered from mental illness.
Nor should one anticipate a sustained initiative carried out together by owners and players to address police shootings or other issues afflicting communities in which many of the players were raised. It’s far too risky for the owners who fear alienating and offending their large, conservative, older supporters.
The owners value the loyalty and dollars of their primary fan base and corporate partners significantly more than the athletes, of whom roughly 70 percent are Black, who are directly responsible for enhancing their enormous wealth. Like a broken taillight on a used car, players are merely replaceable and expendable parts.