( CNN ) -- Even before the NBA announced it was banning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the league for life , sports fans had begun speculating about which billionaire would swoop in to buy the team . Rumors are swirling about the possible interest of `` Magic '' Johnson , Sean `` Diddy '' Combs and Oscar De La Hoya , each potential celebrity owner no doubt more popular than the incumbent . Or perhaps , it is said , a group of virtuous billionaires , the likes of Oprah Winfrey , Larry Ellison and David Geffen , will charitably unite to rescue the franchise for the City of Angels . Here instead is my modest proposal : Sell the team to the people , to thousands of fans themselves , as shareholders . Then the Clippers would be owned not by a single incredibly wealthy patron whom we might admire or might detest , but by Americans of all races , ethnicities , religions , ages and backgrounds . As a loyal fan of the Green Bay Packers ( disclosure : My wife , Callista , and I own a single Packers share and our daughter Kathy and son-in-law Paul each have one , too ) , I have a particular attachment to this model of ownership for professional sports teams . There is something strange about the prevailing model of teams as the ultimate billionaire 's toy . That 's because a professional sports team often seems like a public institution . Its logo adorns every head on the street . The jerseys of its players are sold on every corner , its apparel in every airport gift store . The mayor and the governor make frequent reference to its fortunes in their public appearances . They parade in ceremoniously to throw out the first pitch or to sit in judgment on the sidelines . And the people , for their part , are outraged when the team does n't perform well ; they demand management changes as if management requires the consent of the entertained . And perhaps the people do have some claim : As taxpayers , they lavish financial assistance upon their team , pouring resources into public safety for the games and constructing the opulent stadiums their champions deserve . Because it is , after all , the people 's team . It is their team -- the fans ' team -- in every regard except the one that matters . At the bottom of it all , it is really the billionaire 's team -- an amateur , an enthusiast , whose whims , finances , prejudices and personal foibles can hold outsize influence on the fortunes of his or her franchise . Clippers fans were reminded of that fact rather crudely this week . What better response than to fix it once and for all , by selling the team straight to the fans , as a not-for-profit like the Packers , with a board of directors , and a strong general manager and president ? The right thing to do , I think , is to give it to the people . Green Bay , not billionaires , is the model .
Billionaires are reported to be interested in buying L.A. Clippers if team put up for sale . Score: 6 He says sports teams are public in every way except their ownership . Gingrich : Public builds many stadiums , provides services , has big interest in teams .