Two fan-owned teams play in upstate New York: the AAA Rochester Red Wings and Syracuse SkyChiefs. Both teams sold stock to the community in the late 1950s when their major league affiliates reduced their amount of financial support.

The Red Wings are owned by 8,000 shareholders, most of whom own fewer than five shares. The team is technically a for-profit corporation, but the club has never paid a dividend and will not do so for at least another 20 years as part of its lease agreement with Monroe County for its 10,600 seat stadium.

More:

• Syracuse Sky Chiefs Home Page
• Rochester Red Wings Home Page

Other Resources:

• Roots, Roots, Roots for the Home Team: Community-Owned Professional Sports by Daniel Kraker and David Morris. ILSR.
• Don't Bribe 'Em. Buy 'Em: A strategic proposal on how New Yorkers can create--and control--a minor baseball league of their own - by Daniel Kraker and David Morris. ILSR.
  Executive Summary
• Rooting the Home Team: Why the Packers Won't Leave--and Why the Browns Did - by David Morris and Daniel Kraker, from The American Prospect magazine, September-October 1998. ILSR.
• City Baseball Magic - designing baseball parks as if community matters.