Headlines: Artificial Scarcity, Monopolies, Subsidies, and Public Ownership in American Sports

The Lever:

The Portland Sea Dogs are quintessential Minor League Baseball. They’re also part of a newer American tradition: a private equity roll-up. In 2022, the team was acquired by Diamond Baseball Holdings (DBH), a subsidiary of Silver Lake, a Silicon Valley-based investment firm with over $100 billion in worldwide assets whose portfolio companies generate over $248 billion in annual revenue. There are 120 Minor League Baseball teams operating directly below Major League Baseball--DBH now owns more than 30 of them. 

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The idea of a major professional sports team becoming publicly owned feels quixotic until you remember that, all over the country, the public is already spending its own money on private sports teams. As Defector’s Waters put it, "If cities were to begin to demand ownership shares in exchange for their generous subsidies, then local fans might begin to share in the prosperity of the professional teams that quite literally would not exist without them." 

Soapbox: Maine Harness Racing Should Organize a Triple Crown of Boutique Meets

 

Closing day for Kentucky Downs was yesterday, and it was another banner meet for the 7-day, all-turf festival. Closer to home, the last couple (unsuccessful) proposals for reinvigorating Thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts have included shorter, more specialized meets.

Brief, boutique racing meets that have a narrow niche will likely only continue to become more popular in the sport. 

Which begs the question: What type of Standardbred boutique meets could we host in Maine?

Answer: The Pine State Triple Crown.

Turf Racing (Summer)

Aroostook Country, ME

Summer in The County is splendid, fertile green pastures abound, and there are a few holes in the fair racing calendar due to a few fairs recently discontinuing harness racing as part of their programming.

Let's make a turf racing festival for harness racing in Maine a thing, even if it just starts off as a 2-day event.

Beach Racing (Fall)

Scarborough, ME

The Laytown Racecourse has been hosting a 1-day meet for beach races in Ireland since 1868, and our Maine-based trainer Mike Graffam has fond memories of training his pacers and trotters at Scarborough's Pine Point Beach in the past.

Horses are already allowed on Pine Point Beach after October 1, and a temporary, 1-mile straight course that connects Pine Point Beach to Old Orchard Beach would be perfect for a 1-day beach meet in the fall.

Ice Racing (Winter)

Rangeley, ME

And finally, probably the most ambitious leg of the Pine State Triple Crown: Ice racing on Rangeley Lake. 

Skeptical? Once again, there's an international template to follow in Saint Moritz's annual White Turf festival.