During the Spanish Inquisition, those with wealth became targets for the unscrupulous. A way to avoid persecution was to hire an uncloistered monk to live in your home and swear to your piety. He might eat a lot of food and drink a lot of wine, and pester the servant girls, but that was a small price to pay.
I mention this because a modern equivalent for a sports team would be to cut a deal with an Indian tribe. They provide a non-ceremonial logo and name, as well as some other copyrighted graphic designs, and some other gratuities, totalling maybe a few thousand a year, and the team is home free.
