It's an inequitable deal, but teams continue to use the leverage of, if you want a team, well, you've got to play by our rules to extract money from the public.

The more I talk to people, the more they confirm that both inside and outside of sports journalism there's a fair amount of awareness that it's not journalism as it's supposed to be.

Building stadiums is something that appeals to local politicians and mayors, especially, because it's something that you can show off. You can put a plaque on a stadium, but you can't put a plaque on reduced first-grade class sizes. You can't go sit in the front row on opening day at the new grade school and wave at the crowd, but you can at a baseball stadium.