President Obama's Impact in Sports

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It will take some time, maybe 1,000 days, to measure the full impact that President-elect Barack Obama will have on the world of sports, but we can already circle a couple of upcoming dates and make some educated guesses about his role in the games we play and watch.

On the afternoon of the 76th day of his presidency (Monday, April 6), Obama will be back on Chicago's South Side to join fellow White Sox fans at U.S. Cellular Field for Opening Day against the Kansas City Royals.

And on the 255th day of his presidency (Friday, Oct. 2), he will be in Copenhagen, Denmark, telling the members of the International Olympic Committee why the 2016 Summer Olympics must be in Chicago.

Obama's allegiance to the Sox (he does not hesitate to express his scorn for fans of the Chicago Cubs) and his support for an Olympics in Chicago are absolute. In an interview with ESPN's Stuart Scott that aired on "SportsCenter" in August, Obama was asked who he would root for in a Cubs-White Sox World Series. This was his answer: "Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair-weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer; beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. South Side."

On other issues facing the sports industry, Obama views are a bit less certain. However, a review of his campaign statements and position papers as well as ESPN.com interviews with his friends and former colleagues at the University of Chicago indicate that an Obama administration is likely to:

• produce major tax increases for team owners and players;

• slow sales of professional teams;

• increase the powers of player unions;

• more vigorously enforce the requirements of Title IX;

• and begin to resolve the serious clashes between sports cable networks such as the NFL Network and the Big 10 Network and cable providers such as Comcast.

Obama's views on other critical sports issues, including performance-enhancing drugs and stricter controls on the powers and the finances of the NCAA, are unknown.

Experts agree that Obama's support for Chicago's 2016 Olympics bid will be critical and that his presence in Copenhagen could easily win the Olympics for Chicago. Former British prime minister Tony Blair's charismatic presentations were said to have led the IOC to pass over Paris, which seemed to have the leading bid after New York City's attempt to get the Games collapsed, and give the 2012 Olympics to London.

Chicago's competition for the 2016 Games includes Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Tokyo. Obama, who appeared at a downtown Chicago rally in support of the bid in June shortly after he won the Democratic nomination, could have an even greater impact on the IOC than Blair did, according to Olympics experts.

"He will be the rock star of the Copenhagen meeting," observes Allen Sanderson, a professor of sports economics at the University of Chicago. "We saw the crowd he drew in Berlin, and he will remain in the glow of an historic election triumph when he asks for IOC votes."

In late July, some 200,000 people attended an Obama speech in front of Berlin's Victory Column, designed in part to demonstrate his desire to improve America's image in Europe and the rest of the world.

Japanese Olympic officials already have expressed their concern that Obama could turn the tide in favor of Chicago when the IOC votes in October.

"Mr. Obama is popular and good at speeches, so things could get tough for Japan," said Tomiaki Fukuda, a senior Japanese Olympic Committee board member.

If Sen. John McCain had won the election, the U.S. bid to play host to the 2016 Olympics might have been negatively affected. Many IOC members remember McCain's scathing investigation of the bribery scandal involving IOC members who helped award the 2002 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City. Two members of the Salt Lake City bid committee were indicted, and McCain's investigation led to major changes in the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Many IOC members remain bitter over McCain's aggressive efforts for reform.

An Olympics in his home city of Chicago in the late summer of 2016 would be a grand finale for an Obama presidency that would be about to wind down if he were re-elected to a second term.

Of more importance than the 2016 Olympics, of course, is the state of the economy, and Obama's attempts to restore it to health could have far-reaching effects on sports.

"The sports industry needs and wants the economy back," says Marc Ganis, a consultant in sports finance who has worked for numerous professional teams and leagues and most recently quarterbacked the deal that produced the new Yankee Stadium. "Fans must be able to buy tickets and cable television packages. Businesses must be able to buy sponsorships and skyboxes. The industry may be recession-resistant, but it is not recession-proof. We need a return to health."

Part of the Obama prescription for the economy could hurt both owners and players. Throughout his campaign, Obama promised that he would increase taxes on individuals who earn more than $250,000 per year. That would take money out of the pockets of wealthy team owners and well-paid players. The Major League Baseball minimum salary, for example, will be $400,000 next year.

"It will be an increase that they will notice," Sanderson observes.

Already, a number of baseball agents are saying they might attempt to have their free agents signed, sealed and delivered to new teams by Jan. 1. Among Obama's economic proposals is an increase of the top federal income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, but signing bonuses paid before the start of the new year likely wouldn't be subject to the new rate.

Too, Obama's campaign promises about capital gains and inheritance taxes, if and when implemented, will complicate the sale and transfer of team ownerships. Wayne Huizenga, the owner of the Miami Dolphins, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently that he will attempt to complete the sale of his team to Steve Ross, a New York real estate mogul, before the end of 2008 to avoid Obama's promised increase in the capital gains tax. Obama's economic plan calls for an increase in that tax from 15 percent of the investment gain to 20 percent, a hike of one-third.

An Obama-promised increase in estate taxes could also provide problems for team owners. If the tax is increased, the death of a principal owner could lead to serious problems for a family trying to keep control of the team. The NFL's St. Louis Rams, according to some reports, are for sale as the result of the impact of inheritance taxes at current rates.

In addition to his changes in the tax structure, Obama may seek changes in the laws that govern unions. After enjoying strong support from organized labor during his campaign, Obama can be expected to increase the leverage of player unions through appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, the forum that regulates collective bargaining between players and owners. He may also introduce legislation that would ban replacement workers, a reform that has long been a goal of the labor movement.

Under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the NLRB was slow to consider and even slower to decide cases that involved allegations of unfair bargaining practices on the part of team owners. Union representatives, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issues, told ESPN.com that they look forward to a more aggressive NLRB that will be quick to decide player complaints against team owners.

As early as last summer, the late Gene Upshaw, the leader of the NFL Players Association who died in August, said he was looking forward to a President Obama introducing legislation that would ban replacement workers. Known to labor activists as "scabs," replacement workers are hired to replace striking workers, a device that destroyed an Upshaw-led strike in 1989.

Upshaw was anticipating a radically different situation when the NFL's current collective bargaining agreement expires in 2011.

In addition to the changes he will enact on the professional level, Obama's approach to governing can be expected to have some indirect impacts in college sports. Coaches, athletes and administrators in a number of so-called minor sports, such as wrestling, have long been wary that their sports will be eliminated to meet the equality of gender requirements of Title IX, and they cannot be happy about Obama's election. With President Bush in the White House and Dennis Hastert, a former wrestling coach, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, participants in those sports had some hope that Title IX requirements might be diluted.

Bush and his staff looked hard at Title IX and the possibility of enacting changes in the regulations of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that govern Title IX, but they backed away as opposition to any changes grew.

Obama, the father of two daughters, might not be sympathetic to those hoping to lessen the impact of Title IX.

In an issue that affects both college and professional sports, both sides of an acrimonious dispute between sports cable networks and cable providers will be watching closely as Obama appoints a new chair of the Federal Communications Commission.

Professor James Speta, a telecommunications expert at the Northwestern University Law School, explains that Obama has already committed himself to the idea of "network neutrality" for Internet providers, an idea that guarantees consumers can decide what Internet sites they want and prevents providers from blocking consumers from certain sites.

"If you take his position on the Internet one step further, you can see that Obama will support the idea that a cable TV customer should be able to choose any network he wishes to watch," Speta says. If Speta's assertion proves to be correct, it will be good news for the NFL Network, the Big 10 Network and other content providers who want cable companies to offer their networks to customers.

On other issues, even after a campaign that went on for 22 months, little is known of Obama's positions. Although both the Bush administration and Sen. McCain were aggressive in their approaches to the elimination of performance-enhancing drugs, Obama has not spoken on the issue. Will he agree with Bush and McCain, that steroids and other drugs must be eliminated? Or will he be sympathetic to the position of Donald Fehr and the Major League Players Association, that regulation and testing should be a private matter between players and owners?

If federal authorities do not conclude their perjury investigation of Roger Clemens before Bush leaves office, Obama and his attorney general will face a decision on Clemens that will be a signal of their approach on these drugs.

Obama's position on the NCAA and its tax exemptions also is unknown. With the NCAA earning billions from football and basketball while competing with the NFL and the NBA for entertainment dollars, many in Congress want an investigation of its tax-exempt status. Obama has not spoken on the issue.

In 76 days, Obama will take the oath of office as the 44th president of the United States. In the 1,000 days that follow, he will help support the White Sox, and he will help his city try to win an Olympics bid and perhaps stage the Games. Decision by decision, day by day, his impact on the world of sports will emerge.

His promises of hope and change may lead to solutions to problems that have vexed commissioners, owners, coaches and athletes for years.

It will be an interesting ride.

 

If he could make that happen, he would get my vote in 2012 regardless...

 

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Donovan McNabb grew up in Chicago never believing he would see a black man become president.

Perhaps that was one reason why the 31-year-old Philadelphia Eagles quarterback didn't register to vote until this election.

McNabb, though, had met Barack Obama, believed in his ideas and supported his policies. Watching Obama deliver his victory speech at Grant Park brought back all sorts of memories.

"It reminded me of, obviously, when Martin Luther King spoke and the messages that he spoke about," McNabb said Wednesday. "As a man, if you teared up, it was acceptable because it was that deep.

"For the first time, I had the opportunity to vote and I can say that I was a part of it," he said.

From the NFL to the PGA Tour to the baseball general managers' meeting to a tennis tournament in the Middle East, sports paused Wednesday to reflect on the election.

Several Eagles hollered Obama's motto, "Yes, we can!" in the locker room. Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter was among several NFL players wearing Obama shirts a day after the win over Sen. John McCain.

"Inspiring and transformational," NBA commissioner David Stern said. "Hooray for the USA."

Moments after Obama closed out McCain, the Boston Celtics finished off their win at Houston.

"I thought it was really interesting right after the game, the guys were celebrating Obama's victory more than we just beat the Rockets on the road. I thought that was really cool," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.

"Like I told them three or four days ago," he said. "I told them, 'I don't care who you vote for. That's none of my business. I just want you to vote. I just want you to be involved.'"

Oregon State men's basketball coach Craig Robinson had a special rooting interest: His sister, Michelle, is Obama's wife.

Robinson was in Chicago for the celebration Tuesday night and was back in Corvallis, Ore., for practice Wednesday.

"It doesn't get much better than that," he said. "Although I would imagine that winning a Pac-10 championship would feel pretty good right about now."

Several players and golfer Boo Weekley wondered how Obama's tax plan would affect their wallet. Previously, Weekley said he planned to retire once he reached $8 million in career winnings.

"That number went up, as of last night," he said before the Children's Miracle Network Classic at Disney.

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen also thought about the tax implications.

"It's a sad day for me. I'm a McCain supporter. There is nothing I can do about it now. Our paychecks will be cut in half," he said. "It is what it is and McCain, I still love you, and Obama, you better do what you promised because the whole country is watching."

Not to worry, Saints linebacker Scott Fujita said.

"We heard so much about how he's going to be taxing everybody who makes over $250,000. That's everybody in our business. So everyone's going to be affected by that," he said. "And my argument to them was maybe there's a chance our tax dollars are going to be spent a little more wisely than they have in the past."

New York Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins thought about his taxes, but, more importantly, his three young children and his half-brother serving in Iraq.

"I can't be selfish enough to think about keeping all of my money and just being in a better tax bracket because I have to be

sure that I do my part for the world to be a better place for my kids," he said.

LeBron James campaigned for Obama and arrived at Wednesday night's game wearing a T-shirt with the president-elect's likeness on the front. The Cleveland star contributed $20,000 to a committee supporting Obama, participated in an early-voter registration rally and hosted a free concert at Quicken Loans Arena with rap star Jay-Z to support the Illinois senator.

James recently met Obama when they both were on David Letterman's show. The Cavaliers' franchise player liked that Obama played hoops in the hours leading up to his election.

"They say that's a ritual for him, like me coming in early and getting a massage before the game," James said. "It got him prepared. The speech was, wow. If it takes basketball for him to say things like that, then let him do it."

Grant Hill and the Phoenix Suns kept tabs on the election during their win at New Jersey. The Suns were on the team bus when they found out Obama had won.

"It would have been nice to have been at home with the family, taking it all in, but we were playing and trying to get updates while we were playing, during timeouts. I will always remember playing against Jersey on Nov. 4, 2008," Hill said.

"We talk about the black vote, but white America is the one that makes the difference, and they voted for an African-American. You can have all the black votes you want, but if you don't have the white vote, you ain't going to win. It just shows a lot," he said.

Venus and Serena Williams embraced Obama's victory during the WTA Tour's season-ending tournament in Doha, Qatar.

"America is a wonderful place. I love my country, and I love living there. I love my passport. But also it's a country that almost since its beginning, it was supposed to be a place where people were escaping intolerance. It became a country that was really intolerant of different minorities and skin colors," Venus said.

"My dad grew up in Louisiana, a place where he was called 'boy' and shown no respect. Where he couldn't say anything. His mother was a poor sharecropper," she said. "So I think it's amazing that America has the opportunity to have someone who is a minority of mixed race or whatever you want to call it."

Sister Serena saw it the same way.

"I was just thinking about everything, thinking about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and all the pioneers. ... All of these people, Arthur Ashe, who led the way for us. It's amazing," she said."

Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards woke up daughters Gabrielle, 3, and Vivian, 2, to watch Obama's speech.

"It was about 10 o'clock. They were watching the television and clapping. I said, 'There's your President.' I wanted them to know our country is great," he said. "When they have children they'll be able to say, 'I saw him. I didn't have to read a history book.'"

As the Broncos packed up for their trip to Cleveland, the music blaring in the locker room was Cocoa Tea's reggae song "Barack Obama."

Wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who had worn Obama shirts for all his interviews this season, was beaming.

"As soon as we found out that he won, my mom called me and she said, 'When you have your first child, just look them in the eyes and tell them, you know, you can be anything you want to be,'" Marshall said. "It happened for me and it happened for Barak and it happened for the United States."

Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, the first black coach to win a Super Bowl, hoped Obama's victory would have far-reaching effects.

"My wife was talking to my 7-year-old daughter and she was asking a lot of questions about what electoral votes are and how they work and that sort of thing. I think it could be a bring a lot of African-Americans into the process that maybe weren't in it before," he said.

A number of Steelers players were clearly excited by Obama's victory -- as was their owner. Dan Rooney was one of Obama's most visible supporters in western Pennsylvania and introduced him before a full-house rally at Mellon Arena on Oct. 27.

Wide receiver Hines Ward went around the Pittsburgh locker room with a camera crew, interviewing players about the election for his weekly TV show.

Dallas wide receiver Terrell Owens said coach Wade Phillips used "change" as a theme in a team meeting. "Hopefully that can trickle on down to our season," Owens said.

Boston College receiver Brandon Robinson recalled hearing Obama speak on campus three years ago, welcoming the class of 2009.

"My grandfather's 92 years old, and was a sharecropper, and he lived to see a black man elected president," Robinson said. "It's a pretty big deal."

Robinson, who is biracial, said he has not read Obama's book "Dreams from My Father", adding, "But it's on my desk right now."

Bears coach Lovie Smith began his news conference Wednesday with these words: "It doesn't get any better than this, a historic day like we have today -- the first black president."

Boxer Roy Jones Jr., preparing to fight Saturday night against Joe Calzaghe, followed the election in New York.

"I'm so proud to be an American now, more today than I've ever been in my life, because last night was a true change -- last night we were all equal before we're black, white, Haitian, whatever," he said.

New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya watched the results from the GMs meeting in Dana Point, Calif.

"Because he's a first, I think that he gives you the feeling of Jackie Robinson," Minaya said. "In the sports world, you tend to have people that are conservative. Maybe that will change now."

Tyrone Willingham, who is stepping down as football coach at the University of Washington at the end of the season, said it was hard to imagine anyone not having a reaction to Obama's election.

"Mine is that it's a great day for America because now what is written in the Constitution now comes to life," he said.