WITH television companies and sponsors pouring more money than ever into sport, prepare yourself for a rocky ride if private ownership of sporting teams becomes commonplace in Australia.

So far, it has had a minor impact on sport in this part of the world, but the experiences of American sport should provide a guide to the pitfalls.

The NBA basketball season is yet to get underway with the billionaire owners and the millionaire players in dispute over the distribution of revenue resulting in a lockout, which has lasted more than 100 days. Both parties want a 53 per cent share, which is mathematically impossible.

American sport has these types of disputes all the time and it’s always over money. Baseball had its world series wiped out in 1994; the NFL had a pre-season lockout lasting 18 weeks in the lead-up to last season and the National Ice Hockey League cancelled the 2004-05 season altogether after players sought a greater share of revenue.

Thankfully, in Australia sport hasn’t been affected by the threat of striking players. The closest we have come is the breakaway Super League, World Series Cricket and the emergence of professionalism in rugby union.

In all cases, the situation came about as a result of players seeing the money coming into their sport was not being evenly distributed.
The private ownership of sporting teams hasn’t really taken off in Australia. I am not a huge fan of private ownership, it usually starts with an immediate cash injection and plenty of bravado, but when business people realise that it’s hard to make money out of owning a sports team they usually lose interest and it goes pear-shaped.

I am not saying it happens all the time, but it has happened: remember the Sydney Swans? Hopefully Nathan Tinkler has more success with the Newcastle Knights and the Jets, while it can be argued that News Limited has kept the Melbourne Storm afloat.

It can also be argued that private owners will push harder for a greater return, which is likely to also impact on the nature of sport.
It is for that reason, I hope private ownership doesn’t become part of the landscape in Canberra sport because it is important for the existing teams to be community based, although there is the constant struggle to stay financially viable.

Despite the Raiders and the Brumbies having poor seasons, you would hope supporters see that they are an integral part of the community and for many of us, they add to the reason why we live in Canberra. Getting behind our national teams, the Brumbies, the Raiders and the Capitals in particular, will help maintain their viability and help the overall stability of sport.