re: Will we ever see a publicly traded franchise in a major American sport?

This would be tough because all it would take would be one large activist investor, or institutional investor to amass a large portion of shares and agitate for certain changes, e.g. new head coach, less spending on players ,etc. for it to really have a negative affect for fans. With that said Manchester United, one of the most prominent sports franchises in the world, trades on the NYSE