There’s a New Sheriff in Town: How IREF can be a Model to Protect Sports Fans

There is a constant tension between a professional sports team’s fans and its owner. Taken at face value, these two groups should have the same aspirations: the pursuit of championships. But if you dive a little deeper, the tension becomes more apparent. If the team is doing poorly, the fans might blame the owner for not doing their part to bring in better players. Logically, the owner should want to correct these problems and try to return the team to prominence. Yet owners have other concerns, like their bottom line, television rights deals, and at some point how much they can resell the team for. What happens when the owner wants to move the team to a new city? What about changing the team colors, logo, or name? Do the fans, who have spent money, blood, sweat, and tears supporting their favorite team, get any say? Most of the time, the fans do not and are left with a new team name, team colors, or maybe no team at all.

In England, the government has stepped in to try to solve this problem. Soccer, or as they call it, football, is the most popular sport in England and the English government saw an opportunity to help preserve some of the history that makes football what it is today.¹[1]Boxing, Basketball and Badminton are among the most popular sports with Gen-Z adults in the UK, Ernst and Young (Nov. 9, 2023), https://www.ey.com/en_uk/news/2023/11/ey-sports-engagement-index-reveals-most-popular-sports-with-gen-z-adults. Meet IREF: the Independent Regulator of English Football.²[2]A Sustainable Future – Reforming Club Football Governance, UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport, at 5, (Feb. 2023), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63f65d3de90e077bb0c92853/Reform_of_club_football_governance_-_White_Paper.pdf. According to the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport, IREF will have the goal of ensuring “that English football is sustainable and resilient, for the benefit of fans and the local communities football clubs serve.”³[3]Id. This lofty goal is backed up by three specific targets: club sustainability, systematic stability, and cultural heritage.⁴[4]Id. Club sustainability is focused on individual clubs, their financial situation, and ability to respond to financial shocks.⁵[5]Id. at *22. This goal will be met through a series of licensing standards and oversight into the clubs’ finances.⁶[6]Id. at *27-39. Systematic stability refers to maintaining stable financial distribution across the top five levels of the English football pyramid.⁷[7]Id. at *60. As revenues grow at the top of the pyramid, there is a growing concern that the lower level clubs will continue to fall further behind, effectively eliminating any competitive hope that they can progress to the top.⁸[8]Id. at *60-63. IREF would keep a watchful eye over this area, only stepping in when it feels measures are needed to ensure stability.⁹[9]Id.

A club’s cultural heritage might mean something different to each fan, but generally it encompasses topics like the color of the club’s kit, the design of the badge, and the club’s stadium, name, or location.¹⁰[10]Id. at *54. The fans make the clubs who they are – they provide identity, traditions, passion, and the atmosphere that makes football part of the UK’s cultural fabric. To protect this vital part of football, IREF seeks to introduce fan engagement protocols which clubs would have to follow when making major changes to the club’s identity.¹¹[11]Id. The fan engagement protocols would be one requirement of the licensing structure overseen by IREF in order to ensure that owners cannot ignore fan interests while operating the clubs.¹²[12]Id. at *57-59. The government understands that a “one size fits all approach” is unlikely to be effective, as the 116 clubs in the top five tiers have vastly different resources, supporters, and needs.¹³[13]Id. at *55. One option for fan engagement is a “shadow board” made of fans who would be consulted for certain club actions and voice the broader supporters’ opinions.¹⁴[14]Id. at *55-57. Another option for clubs is the “Golden Share” model which requires fan consent for certain actions involving club heritage.¹⁵[15]Id. Regardless of the exact structure, these additional requirements for clubs to retain their licenses ideally would ensure that fan interests are protected and considered when the owners make major decisions, like the sale of a club stadium, relocation of a club, or changing the club badge, colors, or name.¹⁶[16]Tracey Crouch, Fan Led Review of Football Governance, at 100, (Nov. 2021), https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1135464/Football_Fan_led_Governance_Review_v8Web_Accessible.pdf.

The English Football pyramid stretches over more than eight tiers from the best players in the world at the top in the Premier League all the way down to regional national league teams with friends getting together to play on weekends.¹⁷[17]The English Football Pyramid: A Guide To The Tiers Of English Football, Jobs in Football, https://jobsinfootball.com/blog/english-football-pyramid-tiers/ (last visited May 20, 2024). Professional football is played in the top four tiers, with promotion (moving up a tier) and relegation (moving down a tier) incentivizing players and owners to work their way to the top with massive financial rewards.¹⁸[18]Id. (The Championship through National League use a playoff system for promotion, with each league using a slightly different format; however these promotion playoffs are not the focus of this article). The English Premier League (“EPL”) is the top tier, with 20 clubs competing for the league title.¹⁹[19]Premier League explained, Premier League, https://www.premierleague.com/premier-league-explained (last visited May 20, 2024). The bottom three EPL clubs are relegated into the next tier, called the Championship.²⁰[20]Id. at *4. In the Championship, there are 24 clubs competing for the three spots to move back up into the EPL.²¹[21]Id. Additionally, the bottom three Championship clubs are relegated into the third tier, known as League One.²²[22]See The English Football Pyramid, supra note 17. In League One, the stakes increase, as the top three clubs are promoted into the Championship, but the bottom four clubs are relegated into the fourth tier, League Two.²³[23]Id. As a result, the top four clubs in League Two get promoted at the end of each season, while the bottom two clubs are relegated into the lower semi-professional tiers of the football pyramid known as the National League.²⁴[24]Id. The National League functions as the bridge between professional and semi-professional football, where not all clubs have full-time paid staff and players.²⁵[25]Id. The National League has 24 clubs and promotes two of them into League Two, the first step into the world of English professional football.²⁶[26]Id.

With the history and community ties of some of these historic football clubs going back to the late 1800s, it is hard to imagine how a team could be uprooted, moved, renamed, and rebadged.²⁷[27]The History of the FA, The FA, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/what-we-do/history (last visited Apr. 23, 2024). In comes Milton Keynes Dons Football Club. While relatively unknown outside of those who follow the sport closely, MK Dons is a newer club when it comes to English football teams, founded in 2004 in League One.²⁸[28]Club History, Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, https://www.mkdons.com/club/history/ (last visited Apr. 23, 2024). However, the club was not always MK Dons, and before 2004, the team was not even located in Milton Keynes.²⁹[29]John Williams, AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons: a tale of two teams reveals the limits of franchising in English football, The Conversation (Aug. 3, 2018, 12:10 PM), https://theconversation.com/afc-wimbledon-and-mk-dons-a-tale-of-two-teams-reveals-the-limits-of-franchising-in-english-football-96144. When the owners of Wimbledon Football Club decided their fans were no longer engaged enough and support for a new stadium was dwindling, the owners decided to move the team entirely.³⁰[30]Id. They moved the team 60 miles away, changed the name to MK Dons and effectively ignored Wimbledon FC’s cultural heritage.³¹[31]Id. The fans, so passionate about their club and sport, formed their own club, AFC Wimbledon, from nothing and had to start in the depths of the English football pyramid.³²[32]The story of AFC Wimbledon, AFC Wimbledon, https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/club/history/ (last visited Apr. 23, 2024). AFC Wimbledon is owned and operated by the fans, ensuring that no owner can step in and take away their beloved club, moving it to a new location and wiping away its history.³³[33]Id. Today, both clubs are in League 2 (the fourth level of professional football in England), with AFC Wimbledon having just beat MK Dons in what is known as one of the fiercest rivalries in English football.³⁴[34]BBC Sport, AFC Wimbledon 1, 0 Milton Keynes Dons, BBC (Mar. 2, 2024),  https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/68389422.

While AFC Wimbledon’s story is inspiring, the fans believed that a greedy owner should not be allowed to steal their team away just to increase profits. It is a prime example of why IREF’s cultural heritage protections are so important. IREF will act as a “commissioner” of sorts, and through the establishment of the licensing system, guarantee that fan interests and cultural heritage are not ignored.³⁵[35]See A Sustainable Future, supra note 2, at 54. With support coming from the highest levels of the English government, IREF’s licensing system will actually have teeth, forcing clubs and owners to comply with the regulations in order to maintain their status and ability to compete.³⁶[36]British government to introduce independent football regulator, ESPN (Mar. 18, 2024, 9:04 PM), https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/39762202/british-government-introduce-football-regulator. Had IREF been in place in 2004, Wimbledon FC would not have been erased.

Sadly, this story is all too familiar in American sports. With the franchise model, teams in the major leagues face no fear of relegation. As a result, the owners have even less incentive to engage with the fans’ interests and instead choose to focus on the bottom line of the business. This phenomenon is not new, as you have the Baltimore Indianapolis Colts, the Seattle Supersonics Oklahoma City Thunder, or the Milwaukee Atlanta Braves, just to name a few.³⁷[37]Phillip B. Wilson, Thirty years later, remembering how Colts’ move went down, USA Today Sports (Mar. 29, 2014, 12:50 PM), https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2014/03/29/indianapolis-baltimore-move-30-year-anniversary-mayflower/7053553/; Riley Michel, On this day: The Seattle SuperSonics officially move to Oklahoma City in 2008, KIRO7 (Jul. 2, 2019, 12:57 PM), https://www.kiro7.com/sports/on-this-date-9-years-ago-the-seattle-sonics-moved-to-oklahoma-city/547725919/; With A’s moving to Las Vegas, a look at the history of MLB relocation over the past 70 years, The Associated Press (Nov. 16, 2023, 1:39 PM), https://apnews.com/article/mlb-teams-moves-as-001321338aa5e4b29624e1fedbaa9f38.>

Today, the plight of the Oakland – soon to be Las Vegas – Athletics is national news.³⁸[38]David Close, MLB owners approve A’s move from Oakland to Las Vegas, CNN (Nov. 16, 2023, 5:44 PM), https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/16/sport/mlb-approves-oakland-athletics-las-vegas/index.html. The Major League Baseball club has deep ties to its community yet to fans it appears the owner could care less.³⁹[39]Cody Stavenhagen, A year ago, the Oakland A’s announced their Vegas move. Then the real drama started, The Athletic (Apr. 22, 2024), https://theathletic.com/5432748/2024/04/22/oakland-athletics-year-vegas-boycott/. While the A’s billionaire owner has pondered moving the club for years amidst a dispute over building a new stadium, fans were left out in the cold.⁴⁰[40]Id. As plans for a new stadium faltered, and then died, the A’s owner began to explore moving the team.⁴¹[41]Id. Instead of fostering fan engagement and building the next generation of fans, the owner ignored his current fan base and let Oakland fall into disrepair.⁴²[42]Id. Rodents in the stadium, sewage in the opposing team’s dugout, and record lom,w attendance only exacerbated the tensions between the fans and owner.⁴³[43]Id. As the relationship moved beyond repair, the fans staged a reverse boycott showing up to a specific game in force.⁴⁴[44]Id. They wore green shirts that said “SELL” to illustrate their commitment to the Oakland A’s, while trying to convince the owner to sell the team so the club would stay in Oakland.⁴⁵[45]Id. But even the additional ~20,000 fans were unable to persuade the owner to change course.⁴⁶[46]Id. In November 2023, the MLB owners approved the A’s move to Las Vegas, with the team expected to begin play there in 2028.⁴⁷[47]Ayana Archie, The Oakland A’s are relocating to Las Vegas after MLB owners approve the move, NPR (Nov. 16, 2023), https://www.npr.org/2023/11/16/1213585384/oakland-athletics-las-vegas-mlb. To add insult to injury, the A’s will be leaving Oakland at the end of the 2024 season, moving to a minor league stadium in Sacramento while they await Las Vegas’ bright lights.⁴⁸[48]See Stavenhagen, supra note 39.

The American franchise model has turned the teams at the top level into major investments, with recent valuations in the billions and continuing to grow. ⁴⁹[49]Mike Ozanian and Justin Teitelbaum, The World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams 2023, Forbes (Sep. 8, 2023, 11:14 AM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2023/09/08/the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams-2023/?sh=8cd4c302b442. The American leagues have their own internal structures and regulations, with a commissioner overseeing operations and the owners raking in profits. And while the leagues tout “fan engagement initiatives,” these initiatives are less to consider fan input and more to make a profit. ⁵⁰[50]Fan engagement: can fans influence the strategy of sports organizations?, JOHAN CRUYFF INSTITUTE (Nov. 26, 2021), https://johancruyffinstitute.com/en/blog-en/sport-marketing/fan-engagement-fans-influence-sports-organizations/. This further exacerbates the tension between the fans and owners, as their goals shift away from each other. Now, this is not to say the United States needs a government regulator of sport. An “IREF” likely would never be able to exist in America. Too much red tape, politics, and money is involved for the owners of these billion dollar clubs to willingly accept any more oversight. But just because professional sports teams are for-profit does not mean they have to be solely focused on profit.

The American leagues should refocus their priorities to engage fans in major decision-making, not just with new revenue streams. Taking parts of IREF’s cultural heritage protections, like consulting fans for team name, color, or location changes, and introducing them to American sports would go a long way to continue fortifying the relationship between fans and their teams. The owners would still reap financial benefits, since the fans would develop a more meaningful relationship with the team, potentially leading to more ticket, jersey, and merch sales. As the Football Governance Bill is passed through English Parliament and takes effect, Americans should pay attention to its effectiveness and enforcement abilities.⁵¹[51] Football Governance Bill, UK Parliament, https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3701 (As of writing, the Football Governance Bill is in the Committee stage within the House of Commons. See https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3701 for progress updates and the most current version of the bill) (last visited Apr. 24, 2024). Even the wildly successful English Premier League is worried about the introduction of additional regulation, yet they are willing to “engage with it positively.”⁵²[52]Premier League chief warns independent regulator ‘big risk’, ESPN (Apr. 22, 2024), https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40001266/premier-league-chief-independent-regulator-risk. If IREF can live up to its hype and protect fans and club heritage, there might be a compelling argument to bring some of its protections over to American sports.

Given what we know about the IREF proposals, it seems unlikely that the A’s would have been able to leave Oakland had there been IREF-style fan engagement and cultural heritage protections in place. Unlike in English football, American sports fans cannot create a new club and work their way into the major leagues. The barriers to entry are too high and there is no promotion/relegation for even the smallest glimpse of hope. For the foreseeable future, Oakland will be without a professional baseball team. As one diehard A’s fan put it, “It’s like a death in the family, and your own family member murdered the person…There’s no words to describe it.” ⁵³[53]See Stavenhagen, supra note 39. It never had to be this way, but the tension between the owner and the fans snapped. Without protections in place, Oakland lost its beloved A’s just like Wimbledon lost its original club. Through IREF, England looks to make sure that its football fans never suffer a similar fate again.

Written by: Evan Glatt
Evan is a 2025 J.D. Candidate at Brooklyn Law School