I stated my opinion on the exploitative nature of American sports ownership and, specifically, John Henry’s Fenway Sports Group a while ago.
Generally speaking, owners in North American sports often act like economic parasites. Financial evidence strongly suggests they rarely invest their own money into their teams’ operations. Instead, they depend on taxpayer money to fund major business expansions, using the powerful emotional connection fans have with sports to pressure communities into providing public funds that could be better used elsewhere. They’ve established a system of corporate welfare where their profits are disconnected from the team’s performance. (Consider the 2023 Oakland A’s: they had the worst record in baseball and low attendance, yet were highly profitable.) Buying an MLB team is essentially acquiring a license to profit from a publicly subsidized monopoly.
This is well-known. We also know that owners are not essential for a team or league to function. Many successful professional sports teams thrive both competitively and financially without any single owner. These examples prove the unnecessary and parasitic nature of personal ownership. It’s not just that owners are a necessary evil; they are simply unnecessary.
However, as fans, we have no power to change this system. Our best hope is that our team ends up with “one of the good ones.”
What defines a “good” owner versus a “bad” one is subjective. Winning is a significant factor, of course. Yet, the genuine grief and admiration after the death of Padres owner Peter Seidler, who never won a championship, contrasted sharply with the animosity towards Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt. This shows that winning alone isn’t enough. If I were to define a good owner, especially given the public funding involved in professional sports, it would be someone who values the unique bond between a team and its fans more than their own financial gain, and who sees themselves as a guardian of this relationship.
This is ultimately what fans desire: an owner who understands them.
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Red Sox spring training action in 2024, showcasing team preparation and focus under John Henry’s ownership.
This brings us to John Henry, owner of the Red Sox and Liverpool FC. Henry recently ended his media silence by agreeing to a profile. Interestingly, he chose a financial journalist from a UK publication, rather than a baseball writer or someone from his own newspaper. This journalist even referred to spring training activities as “throwing practice.” (Is “throwing practice” a worse term than Bill Simmons, who barely follows baseball, being presented as a voice for Red Sox fans?)
The profile contained few surprises for Red Sox fans who have followed the team in recent years. Henry even controlled his quotes, providing approved language via email. The main takeaway seemed to be Henry’s statement that he wouldn’t sell the team, not out of love for the fans or a desire to continue the winning tradition, but because he lives in Boston and “generally [doesn’t] sell assets.”
However, another comment of his is more concerning, seemingly addressing fan perceptions: “Because fans expect championships almost annually,” he told the Financial Times reporter, “they easily become frustrated and are not going to buy into what the odds actually are: one in 20 or one in 30.”
It’s absurd for someone who made his fortune in futures trading to claim that all 30 MLB teams have an equal chance of winning the World Series. This is simply untrue, and Henry knows it. Teams can and do improve their championship odds, and money is the most powerful tool. There’s a strong, proven correlation between payroll and winning, despite any jokes about the Mets.
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Visual data illustrating the correlation between MLB team payroll and on-field wins, highlighting the financial impact on team success under ownership groups like FSG.
This assertion is even more ridiculous regarding the Premier League, which he mentioned with the “one in 20” odds. In Premier League history, only seven clubs have won the title, with just three accounting for 76% of all championships. Unsurprisingly, these three – Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea – are also the biggest spenders in league history.
So, when John Henry suggests that Red Sox fans don’t understand the team’s slim 1-in-30 World Series odds, or Liverpool’s 1-in-20 Premier League chances, he’s not just being condescending; he’s being dishonest.
But his claim that fans expect annual championships is even more irritating. Most fans certainly want to win every year. However, suggesting it’s an expectation ignores Red Sox history and the reality of being a fan.
For a significant part of my life, I didn’t expect the Red Sox to win the World Series at all, let alone annually. I genuinely believed it wouldn’t happen in my lifetime. I felt some unknown force was preventing it. As a rational adult, I knew this was illogical, but the feeling persisted. So, no, I never expected a championship, let alone one every year.
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Symbolic representation of the long suffering of Red Sox fans during the championship drought, a history John Henry needs to understand.
Perhaps I’m an outlier, but I doubt it. Many Red Sox fans likely shared my belief that they’d die before seeing a World Series win. Yet, we still went to Fenway Park. From 1967 to 2004, the Red Sox were consistently among baseball’s best-supported teams. They often had the highest or second-highest attendance in the American League, despite having baseball’s smallest stadium. By ballpark capacity percentage, the Red Sox essentially led MLB attendance for over three decades.
We kept coming after the 1978 collapse, the heartbreak of the 1986 World Series, and the 2003 ALCS tragedy. We kept coming despite losing team legends. We kept coming even when the team struggled. We went to Fenway Park hoping, even desperately, to see a championship someday. But we didn’t expect it, and many of us didn’t even believe it was possible.
And we’re still coming now, even though the Red Sox haven’t been in World Series contention for years. If they finish below .500 this season, it will be the first time since the Johnson administration that they’ve had losing records in four of five seasons.
John Henry was once considered a “good owner.” I even called him the best owner in global sports, fearing the Red Sox’s future if he sold the team. I still believe the latter, but Henry has clearly changed over 22 years (as people do) and isn’t the same owner he once was.
If John Henry wants to remain a “good owner” and be remembered as such, he needs to understand why fans kept coming all those years, through the decades of disappointment and heartbreak. He needs to reconnect with the enduring passion of the Red Sox faithful beyond just balance sheets and asset management.
