MIAMI (MarketWatch) — I was born in New York’s Hudson Valley.

I’ve never been to Green Bay; I’ve never even been to Wisconsin. And I’ve certainly never worn a slice of cheese on my head — plastic, foam or otherwise.

But on Sunday I’ll be cheering for the Green Bay Packers when they take on the Steelers. So should every American with any sense.

Why?

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during the NFC Divisional NFL playoff game. Reuters

Simple: They’re the only major team left that’s not owned by an oligarch. The only one that’s not just a business run by some tycoon with his eyes on the bottom line.

They’re still, effectively, owned by the town of Green Bay, population 102,000. Read more about the history of the Green Bay Packers.

The local stadium fits three-quarters of the entire town, and there’s still a waiting list for season tickets as long as your arm.

This is what America should still look like.

Call the Pack “the People’s Team.”

What of the team from my birthplace that almost made it to the Super Bowl? The “New York” Jets? Don’t kid yourself. They’re no such thing.

They’re the “Woody Johnson” Jets. Quit dreaming.

Johnson, the owner, isn’t cheering for your business. Why are you cheering for his?

I have nothing against Woody Johnson personally. I don’t even care that he was dinged a few years back by Congress for taking part in a tax dodge.

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But the simple truth is that he is a billionaire running a business, and there is no reason why you or I should somehow get passionately involved in “cheering” for it.

None.

Next time you’re asking your boss for a raise, do you think Woody’s going to turn up and cheer you on? Maybe stand there and chant “De-fense! De-fense”?

The way sports fans are such suckers never ceases to amaze me.

Look, I like a good game. I really honor dedication, excellence and achievement on the field as in any area of life. So I have great respect for what the players do.

But as for the franchises themselves, they’re just businesses. Never forget it.

Just ask the people of Cleveland. For decades they really believed the Browns were the “Cleveland” Browns. They stood in the cold and the rain and the snow, and cheered and cried and yelled for “their” team.

Then in the mid-1990s owner Art Modell got a better offer from Baltimore and it was sayonara, suckers. (A new team was later formed in Cleveland.)

The same thing happened to all those fans of the Baltimore Colts … now in Indianapolis.

And how are those Brooklyn Dodgers doing?

People in Boston cheer rabidly for “their” Patriots. So much for that.

They’re the “Bob Kraft“ Patriots. When Kraft wanted a better deal on a stadium, he threatened to move too.

So it is with almost every other sports franchise.

As someone remarked in Boston a couple of years ago, after the Celtics won the NBA championship: “These teams are all businesses. We might just as well hold a parade when Fidelity [Investments] has a good quarter.” Amen to that, brother.

These are the only businesses where the customers line up to pay for the advertising.

Jets hats? Jets jerseys? Really? If Woody Johnson wants you to advertise his brand, shouldn’t he be paying you?

Maybe McDonald’s Corp. MCD, +1.33% should try this, get us all wearing Mickey D’s uniforms. Make us pay for them too. “Big Mac! Big Mac!”

The Jets owner is famously private. According to a New York Times profile a few years back, he even told family and friends not to talk about him.

We don’t know too much about him. We know he made his money the old-fashioned way: He inherited it.

We know he’s a major supporter of the Republican Party. Johnson played an early and active role in bringing us all George W. Bush — the wonderful gift that keeps on giving.

He’s a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Make of it all what you will.

As an active Republican, Johnson presumably thinks “government” is “too big” and taxes are too high. But that didn’t stop him trying to hustle New York for $600 million toward the cost of a new stadium a few years ago.

He’s not alone. Long before Goldman Sachs Group Inc. GS, +2.61% , these sports oligarchs practically invented “too big to fail.” Hey taxpayers, you’d better help us out … or else.

What of the Packers? This may be the last “team” in the true meaning of the word.

The Pack has 112,000 stockholders. No kidding. None is allowed to own more than 200,000 shares — a tiny stake. That’s how they got to keep a major franchise in a town of just 102,000 people. If the Pack is ever sold and moves, the money goes to a foundation.

I love the fact that Lambeau Field seats 73,000 and is still sold out every game.

To the oligarchs, all this populism in Green Bay probably sounds suspiciously like communism. (I wonder why Wisconsin’s late, famous senator, Joe McCarthy, didn’t bust them for “un-American activities.”)

No wonder the NFL won’t even allow it anymore. No kidding: No team is allowed to have ownership rules like this. These days, each team is required to have to have a small number of rich owners.

Green Bay got grandfathered in. That leaves the Pack alone, the People’s Team.

So good luck on Sunday, boys. You’re playing for all of us.