Voters and Sports Fans Must Start Exerting Their Influence
Since Dan Snyder took over as the Washington Redskins’ owner in 1999, the team’s record sits at 142–193–1. Lifelong fans have grown increasingly exhausted by the poor play, little success, and lack of coaching consistency. Contrast the situation in D.C. with the team 33 miles up the parkway, the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have — since 1999 — won two Super Bowls, and now have one of the most exciting players in football, Lamar Jackson.
The Washington Post recently reported on the collapsing D.C. fanbase:
It’s evident in the sections of empty seats and opposing-team supporters at FedEx Field, as well as the $4 tickets on the secondary market and the season ticket holders who vow they won’t renew. Amid the exodus, a small but seemingly growing contingent of Redskins fans have done the once unthinkable, switching their attention and allegiance to the Baltimore Ravens.
On The Herd, host Colin Cowherd applauded the D.C. fans for taking action against their team. Cowherd stated plainly, “I bail on any product that doesn’t treat me well … I’m loyal to the product and the result.”
Further, Cowherd discussed the little power NFL fans have:
You have very little power as fans. Your power is actually distilled down to one thing, withholding your money. Billionaires like money. Don’t go. Switch sides, buy a Ravens sweatshirt. … I’ve never understood people who are loyal to anything other than a product and a result.
Cowherd is articulating the unrealizied, unwielded power of the sports fan. Fans have some power when it comes to the decisions within the front office, but the power is rarely exercised or discussed. Fans can simply force a franchise’s hand by — as Cowherd puts it — withholding their dollars. If a team is moving in a direction you — the fan — doesn’t like, then don’t give that team any money.
This power is not unlike the power of the American voter. If a political party is moving in a direction you — the voter — doesn’t like, then don’t give that party your vote. The powers are strikingly similar. But fanbases often feel powerless to the whims of owners, and partisan voters are told they hold the power in our democracy.
Media pundits often insist a political party act a certain way, demand support for a particular policy prescription, or portray voting as a purely binary choice between good and evil.
Voters seem to frequently behave like “powerless” fans in the stands with no ability to affect change within their party.
The solution is simple: exercise your power as a voter, and vote only for a candidate worthy of your vote. Don’t just vote down party lines because red is better than blue or vice versa. Don’t be fans watching in the stands. Don’t just vote for your team because they are your team. Do your research, understand the different positions, articulate your own philosophy, and vote intelligently.
Use the Washington-area fans as inspiration to strongly consider whether the party or people representing your interests and values are truly effective and worthy. If tribally passionate and insane NFL fans can find a way to change allegiance when they don’t like the product, maybe voters can too.
