Wayne Huizenga, The World’s Smallest Violin Plays For You
Here we go – sports marketing and politics are intertwined again. Miami Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga says he has to sell his remaining 45% of the team before Democratic candidate Barack Obama becomes president, or, as he told the Sun-Sentinal, or he’ll have to pay more in capital gains taxes. Boo-Freakin’-Hoo.
You know what, Huizenga? Go ahead, sell it. Making statements like that shows you’re not only out of touch with Obama’s plan (and thanks for putting him in office a week before the election), but you’re out of touch with your own fan base. And it’s greedy owners like you who are driving the diehard sports fans away.
Huizenga already got $500 million by selling 50% of the team to Stephen Ross back in December, so I don’t feel bad at all for him, and he’s been known to be one of the cheapest owners in the NFL (look at the sad and thrifty team he put on the field in 2007). I guess I could applaud Huizenga because his Miami Dolphins are also in the lower end of the Fan Cost Index, under the average of about $400 to take a family of four to an NFL game.
Wayne, can I call ya Wayne? Just answer a few questions for me. Do you think the fans who fill Dolphins Stadium eight times a year are concerned about your capital gains tax? Do you think the beer vendors who keep the fans happy as a second or third job want to hear you cry the blues after you sell the rest of the team for about $450 million? How about that usher who may not see that kind of that money in his lifetime (and will see his time cut back because the MLB Marlins have been evicted from the ballpark)?
How about the out-of-work transplanted Dolphins fan somewhere in Ohio who just wants to watch the game without his cable going out because he’s three months behind on his bill and is selling his favorite Larry Czonka jersey on eBay for half its worth to make sure he doesn’t fall further behind?
How about the NFL giving back to its fans during this economic crisis? Sure, they do the opening night party in the city of the previous Super Bowl winner, they run free football camps for kids in certain cities, but how about for the average fan? Can they do something to help Joe the Plumber enjoy the Detroit Lions for once in his life?
Even though Wayne’s statements were made suspiciously a week before Election Day in a battleground state like Florida, I don’t see it having any sort of positive impact for Republican candidate John McCain. I’m sure even the McCain backers (the ones who believer Barack is a secret terrorist, or believe an Obama campaign worker actually carved the letter “B” into a McCain supporter) will hear Wayne’s statement and laugh a bit.
