Protest banner over Fenway shows team ownership under fire

A plane dragged a protest banner over Fenway Park last Friday while players warmed up below. The banner asked fans to push for the manager’s removal and for the team to be sold. The stunt happened just days after the club fired its skipper and most coaches following a rough start to the season. While the team was stuck at 12 wins and 19 losses on the road, the message circled the historic ballpark for more than an hour before the first pitch. Sports betting company Underdog paid for the flight and the sign. Their logo shared space with the protest text. The company said it wanted to give fans a louder voice after the recent firings. The plane took off from Fitchburg, circled Fenway, then returned—all while the Federal Aviation Administration kept other aircraft out of the area during game time.This isn’t the first time angry fans have taken to the skies to send a message. Pirates fans rented planes last year to complain about their owner’s decisions. Jets fans did the same to urge the team to fire a struggling general manager. Dolphins fans even ran crowdfunded campaigns to push for coaching changes. In one case, a 16-year-old raised over two thousand dollars to fly a banner over a Giants game. Most of these protests come from the stands, not from companies trying to sell bets. Yet here, a betting firm stepped in to voice fan frustration. The move raises questions about who really gets heard in modern sports culture. When a business pays for a protest, does it help the fans—or just promote itself?