THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Think before stepping away from your favorites

Do you care who sponsors your favorite team?

Do you even know who’s involved — the people or companies putting up those big bucks to keep you excited and entertained?

What about the TV, radio and various other media outlets whose cash helps pay players’ salaries?

To take this just a step further …

What do you actually know about the athletes themselves, and how they behave when they’re not competing?

I mean, as long as they’re winning …

Right?

Um, maybe not.

I’ve wondered from time to time how fans of the Cleveland Browns square their longtime loyalty to the club with the $230 million paid out to Deshaun Watson — fresh off suspension for sexual misconduct and harassment involving about two dozen massage therapists.

Watson has settled lawsuits with 20 women, basically admitting he’s a sexual predator, yet the Browns ignored it all because he’s a hell of a quarterback.

In fact, there’s a trend with the Browns, who also signed running back Kareem Hunt after he was suspended by the NFL for kicking a woman repeatedly in a hotel hallway.

I’D SAY the cases of Watson and Hunt present you with clear-cut choices if you’re a Browns fan.

Are you sticking by the team, however disgusting or possibly illegal some of the players’ behavior?

Or do you protest?

Maybe even walk away entirely?

OK, those players — and the way they force you to take a position — are pretty extreme examples.

But let’s go back behind the scenes again, and look at sponsors.

How do you feel if you’re a lifelong supporter of a baseball, football or soccer team (among many others), and you disagree politically — even morally — with the owners, or any particular sponsors, who sign on to be an up-front part of the organization.

Is it the same thing as not bothering to ask about the politics of a guy who works on your car?

Or do you speak up, because these teams have such a huge public presence?

There is an uproar now involving the Seattle Sounders, one of the most successful MLS franchises — average attendance 33,607 in 2022, third-highest in the 28-team league.

The Sounders have just signed a deal worth $5 million per season, allowing Providence Swedish Hospital to be the club’s main shirt sponsor.

Unfortunately …

Providence is a tough sell in liberal western Washington generally, and with a lot of Sounders fans specifically.

Here’s a quick summary of the dispute, from the Seattle Times’ Jayda Evans…

“The Sounders FC Alliance Council — an elected body representing the team’s season-ticket members — issued a statement Monday citing concerns with Providence’s ‘policies around abortion rights, fairness in the treatment of transgender people, and low-income patients.’

“‘This is a confusing and disappointing club decision and is in direct opposition to the Sounders’ Social Impact goals and promises,’ ” the statement read.

The Sounders issued a response which defended Providence, and said …

“We need our community to know that our club values remain unchanged. We believe that every woman has the right to make health care decisions for themselves.

“Our club is also unwavering in its support for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are committed to making Washington the safest and most inclusive place to live, work and play, especially for transgender and gender-diverse youth.”

Evans’ story added this: “Providence, which merged with Swedish Health Services in 2012, is a Catholic-based health care organization that doesn’t offer most abortion-related services due to religious beliefs.

THE POINT here, at least in the realm of sports, isn’t really about the hospital’s responsibilities or even its faith-based policies.

A lot of people will agree strongly with the hospital’s position since it is within its rights — but obviously, some do oppose it.

I am not relating this dispute to argue its merits. That's not the purpose here.

As for the Sounders, I think the name on their jerseys is fine.

Where I’m going with this discussion is simply to note that the Sounders supporters group WAS paying attention to what will be on the front of the team’s shirts.

Honestly, it made me think, because …

Well, I made a pretty big whoop-de-do in Wednesday’s column about being a crazed fan of Arsenal soccer club.

Arsenal’s main sponsor (and stadium name) is Emirates Airlines, which is an arm of the United Arab Emirates.

I hadn't thought about that because I've been hooked on the soccer team.

When I push myself, yes, I disagree with some global positions taken by the UAE, but none so wrong-headed that I wouldn’t go play golf in Dubai.

On the other hand, if the airline belonged to the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia …

It would ache, but I would boycott the soccer club I’ve followed passionately for more than 20 years.

I believe the Saudi regime is a murderous, evil-minded mob that behaves in ways I would oppose to my last breath.

CRITICAL …

This is not an issue about Arabs, or Buddhists, or Hindus, or any other religion.

It’s about a conscious decision to assassinate a journalist and cut him to pieces for questioning the policies of a single Saudi prince.

The decision on our end should come down to how any state, group or organization chooses to act, in the same manner that we can forcefully condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

My take …

When it spills over to sports, the politics or policies being debated have to be terribly strong to justify boycotting a baseball team, or the NFL, or ...

Any individual athlete.

But the Cleveland Browns?

Handing a quarter-billion dollars to a confirmed sexual predator?

I would not cover them, not in the same manner we regularly get involved with the Seahawks.

My OWN line in the sand is basic human decency – and questioning anyone, even in sports, who seems to be ignoring it.

Giving plenty of thought to teams, sponsors, players and what each represents to us seems totally prudent.

And it's likely the best we can do.

Email: [email protected]

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”