{"id":11884,"date":"2018-04-15T19:32:02","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T00:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/?p=11884"},"modified":"2018-04-15T19:32:02","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T00:32:02","slug":"ohio-sports-villain-may-save-the-columbus-crew-from-jumping-ship-to-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2018\/04\/15\/ohio-sports-villain-may-save-the-columbus-crew-from-jumping-ship-to-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Sports Villain May Save the Columbus Crew from Jumping Ship to Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Photo Credit: Pexels.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Nicolas Frost, Executive Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Art Modell became a name that lives in infamy in Cleveland and most of Ohio when he moved the Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore in 1995.\u00a0 According to John Kroll, the former Online Editor for The Plain Dealer<\/em>, it was no secret that Modell\u2019s Browns were in trouble.[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Everyone could see the \u201cdisappointing performance on the field [and the] declining revenue because of Modell’s miscalculation about the impact of a new stadium for the Indians, formerly his tenants.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

But even with these troubles, the news introduced by then-Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening that Modell was the owner of the Baltimore<\/em> Browns shocked all of Cleveland.[3]<\/sup><\/a> The Plain Dealer <\/em>story revealing the news reflected the city\u2019s bewilderment: \u201cArt Modell finally ran the play he has been drawing up in secret for the Browns all season. He executed an end-around that could sweep professional football out of Cleveland despite a defensive blitz called by Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

A year later, the State of Ohio enacted a law to prevent a similar act from happening again and breaking their fans\u2019 hearts.\u00a0 The reactionary law, nicknamed \u201cthe Art Modell law,\u201d is codified as Revised Code 9.67<\/a>.[5]<\/sup><\/a> Titled \u201cRestrictions on owner of professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility,\u201d the law states:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo owner of a professional sports team that uses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance from the state or a political subdivision thereof shall cease playing most of its home games at the facility and begin playing most of its home games elsewhere unless the owner either:<\/em><\/p>\n

(A)\u00a0Enters into an agreement with the political subdivision permitting the team to play most of its home games elsewhere;<\/em><\/p>\n

(B)\u00a0Gives the political subdivision in which the facility is located not less than six months’ advance notice of the owner’s intention to cease playing most of its home games at the facility and, during the six months after such notice, gives the political subdivision or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area the opportunity to purchase the team.\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

In a nutshell, if an Ohio professional sports team \u201cuses a tax-supported facility for most of its home games and receives financial assistance,\u201d then that team cannot stop playing most of its home games at that stadium, unless one of two conditions is met.[7]<\/sup><\/a> The first exception is that the government consents to the move.[8]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Alternatively, the team must provide six months\u2019 notice of an intention to relocate,\u00a0and during that time, the team offers the political subdivision in which the facility is located or any individual or group of individuals who reside in the area an opportunity to purchase the team.[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The law is facing its first application with Anthony Precourt, the CEO of Precourt Sports Ventures and the owner of the Major League Soccer (\u201cMLS\u201d) team, the Columbus Crew.\u00a0 Precourt is the first owner who is trying to move a professional sports team out of Ohio since the Modell Law was enacted.\u00a0 Specifically, Precourt wishes to move the Crew to Austin, Texas in hopes that the unofficial state motto is true: \u201cEverything is bigger in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government consent is an unlikely option for the Crew, so Sports Illustrated <\/em>legal analyst and writer Michael McCann addressed the latter exception in the context of the Crew\u2019s attempted move, noting the numerous legal questions it raises and concluding that, as of now, there don\u2019t appear to be clear answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is mainly because: (1) the Modell Law is arguably imprecise in regards to several key words and phrases; (2) application of the Modell Law in this situation could interfere with federal protections for interstate commerce; and, only adding to the uncertainty, (3) there have been no court rulings on the Modell Law\u2014meaning it will be a legal question of \u201cfirst impression\u201d for whomever is assigned as the judge.\u201d[10]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Typically, the biggest hurdle with moving professional teams is getting the commissioner\u2019s approval because professional sports teams are privately owned.\u00a0 But in this case, Precourt appears to have that approval, as both Precourt and MLS Commissioner Don Garber \u201cengaged in discussions with Austin city officials about a potential soccer stadium.\u201d[11]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 However, the support of the commissioner may not be enough this time because an owner and commissioner have never faced the Modell law before.[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/browns\/index.ssf\/2012\/09\/when_art_modell_moved_his_clev.html<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> http:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/sports\/ravens\/bal-modell121795-story.html<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> http:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/browns\/index.ssf\/2012\/09\/when_art_modell_moved_his_clev.html<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> http:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/sports\/baltimore-sports-blog\/bs-sp-columbus-crew-modell-law-move-mls-20180307-story.html<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ohio Rev. Code Ann. \u00a7 9.67 (2018)<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> https:\/\/www.si.com\/soccer\/2018\/03\/06\/columbus-crew-lawsuit-austin-texas-relocation-precourt-mls-ohio-modell-law<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Id<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nicolas Frost, Executive Editor Art Modell became a name that lives in infamy in Cleveland and most of Ohio when he moved the Cleveland Browns franchise to Baltimore in 1995.\u00a0 According to John Kroll, the former Online Editor for The Plain Dealer, it was no secret that Modell\u2019s Browns [\u2026] <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[2330,2328,2326,1498,2179,2325,2329,2331,2327],"class_list":["post-11884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-juris-blog","category-posts","tag-anthony-precourt","tag-art-modell","tag-columbus-crew","tag-major-league-soccer","tag-nick-frost","tag-nicolas-frost","tag-ohio-rev-code-ann--9-67-2018","tag-precourt-sports-ventures","tag-the-art-modell-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11884"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11886,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884\/revisions\/11886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}