But thats what corporations do as well. Sports franchises arent the only ones that do this. FOXCONN in WI got super duper tax incentives to locate there. GE got no taxes for a decade to move to Massachusetts. All they have to do is say "jobs" and they get what they want. We have a defense contractor up here in NH that has been playing this game for over 20 years, they say every 5 years, "give us a 5 year no taxes break and we will stay." They threaten to move elsewhere if they dont and the people freak out.It's an extortion racket. Pay up or we leave.
If enough cities say no, then that ends. Hell, the leagues could end that by adding a couple of expansion teams. There's only so many cities that can support sports teams. But they'd never do that. Why would big sports end their gravy train?