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The Long Game: Money, politics, sports and power
Gail Miller, owner of the the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, announces she will transfer ownership of the Utah Jazz and Vivint Smart Home Arena to a Legacy Trust in order to keep the franchise in Utah for generations, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017, in Salt Lake City. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

The Long Game: Money, politics, sports and power

Between the box scores, the highlights and the official team Twitter accounts joking around on social media, the business side of sports often falls into the background despite sharing a common thread: all sports and politics are local.

As fans who want to stay engaged with every part of sports, we want you to be informed about the issues that not only shape your favorite teams, but the deals that also change your cities.

We recognize it can be challenging to keep up with stadium and arena referendums around the country; which teams are fighting with local officials and which leagues are going to Congress with their own lobbyists. Often by the time any news from the business side of sports has broken through the everyday updates of takeaways and turnovers, the deal has already been set.

So we're going to change that. Welcome to The Long Game. Your weekly update on what's going on in the sports world once the lights go down and the owners get to work.

This week in venue and relocation news

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman travelled to New York to meet with Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred update him on the city's "Baseball Forever" campaign and updated plans for a new stadium for the Rays at their current location.

The Clark County, home to the city of Las Vegas, is ready bet big on the Raiders coming to town with proposals that are already adding up to be the largest public investment in a sports stadium in American history. Supporters of the move say tourists will bear the brunt of the costs through hotel taxes, but some locals believe those projections are too optimistic.

Just when it looked like the stadium proposal for an MLS team in St. Louis was dead after Missouri Governor Eric Greitens restated his position that no public funding will go into new stadiums (including the proposed MLS stadium in St. Louis if they were to land an expansion team) and the city's Ways and Means committee failed to secure the votes to get the proposal to public, a new compromise has been made and now the city is rushing to get a proposed amusement tax on the ballot in April.

In North Carolina, the momentum for an MLS stadium was suddenly brought halt this week after the Charlotte City Council decided to not to vote on the issue as had previously been expected.

The Seattle-Times takes a deep dive on what it will take to get an new arena (and hopefully the new teams to go with) in Seattle. More than money, a history of success is key.

Green Bay city officials are working to get a new $9 million dollar baseball stadium built that would come home to the Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League, along with host concerts and other events throughout the year. The costs are be split between the Bullfrogs and the city, but civic leaders are also asking for financial support from the stadium board that oversees Lambeau Field.

WTEN reports the minor league hockey Albany Devils are moving to Binghamton after this season.

UNLV announced another $3 million dollars in donations have been received for their new football training facility this week. The $26 million dollar complex is expected to raise approximately $17 million in donations, the bulk of the money coming from a $10 million donation from the Fertitta family.

Ownership of the Utah Jazz and the Vivint SmartHome Arena has been transferred from Gail Miller to a legacy trust in a move to ensure the team stays in Salt Lake City when she passes on as part of her estate planning.

The Potomac Nationals Minor League baseball team cleared another hurdle on their way to a new stadium as the Virginia Department of Transportation gave high marks to a proposed new parking lot that would serve the structure. The team's current home, G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, reportedly no longer meets Carolina League standards. Officials are looking to fund the new venue through county-backed bonds.

The state of Arkansas is taking bids on feasibility studies to decide the future of the nearly 70-year old War Memorial Stadium.

The U.S. isn't the only one with stadium cost issues, Athletico Madrid may be forced to be sell a few of its superstars to pay for their new stadium and England it was discovered taxpayer money was released in Millwall based on misleading studies.

Minor leagues update

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced they are buying the D-league team Iowa Energy.

A little further south, the Memphis Grizzles announced they have been given the right to own and operate an expansion developmental team of their own for the 2017-2018 season.

Politics

President Donald Trump named Jets owner Woody Johnson as ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Jim Brown and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have joined civil rights activist Harry Edwards to build the Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change at San Jose State University.

The Arizona State student publication State Press examines the the potential student athlete issues in the wake of the formation of the NCAA political action committee LEAD1, a PAC representing college athletic directors set to lobby congress.

Gambling

With all the news about the Raiders moving to Las Vegas, Roger Goodell restated the league's opposition to gambling being a part of the leaguein contrast to NBA commissioner Adam Silver's openness to the discussion in recent years. The new PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan also believes golf needs to be open to the possibility of increased legal gambling on their sport.

Both Hawaii and Washington have introduced house bills in the past week or so to legalize fantasy gambling, while Michigan looks to allow sports betting across the board.

Op-eds

Did the MLB blow it by not forcing Cleveland to drop the "Chief Wahoo" mascot before announcing the city would get an All-Star Game? [NBC Sports]

If the Raiders move to Las Vegas is approved by the league, fans should boycott the team and Mark Davis. [Sacramento Bee]

Do the New England Patriot fans have a Trump problem? [SB Nation]

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