Phyllis Kahn, the long-time serving Minnesota legislator, is at it again: This time taking aim at Major League Soccer.
State Rep. Phyllis Kahn proposes new MLS team be community owned
The longtime legislator has made similar unsuccessful proposals in the past (Minnesota Twins and Northwest Airlines).
May 7, 2015 at 11:05PM
The Minneapolis DFLer said Thursday she is introducing legislation to have community ownership of Minnesota's new MLS franchise, a move that would allow fans to buy stock in the team. Under the legislation, a corporation would own the team and a private managing owner would own no more than 35 percent of the common stock.
Common stock and preferred stock would then be sold, she said, and give stock owners voting rights on any relocation or contraction of the team. "I call this the Green Bay Packer model", said Kahn, referring to the National Football League team that is similarly community owned.
Other than the private managing owner, no other individual or entity could own more than five percent of the common stock, she said of her proposal.
A House member since 1972, Kahn has not met with success in her other tries at community ownership. She struck out in her attempt to have baseball's Minnesota Twins community owned, and once proposed — again, without success — having the state own Northwest Airlines.
Kahn said she has not spoken to Bill McGuire, the former UnitedHealth Group chief executive who is leading a group to bring a MLS team to Minnesota. "I love baseball, and I really like soccer. But I really don't like football very much," she said.
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