Football and the reluctant voter

AMERICA'S infatuation with its sporting heroes may be as unabashed as ever; but the owners of sports teams are finding themselves and their requests for tax money less popular. On June 3rd San Francisco's voters approved by the narrowest of margins—less than one percentage point, or 1,010 votes—the use of $100m in tax money to build a new stadium for the San Francisco 49ers, the city's football team. The margin was grudging, even though the proposal had been judged relatively generous to the city, with the team's owners now responsible for the balance of the facility's $525m cost, and despite the fact that Willie Brown, the mayor, had staked his political career on its success.