So, I have my own way of coping with despair. I just turn on the tube and watch SportsCenter or I go to a game (though both of those things can lead to further despair). So, after watching SportsCenter for a while and hearing about the Yankees and their spending spree, I start to think a little. How exactly can the Yankees spend all of that money with the economy in the tank? According to ESPN, the Yankees have spent about $420 million in free agents. Yes, I know, it’s the Yankees, but how much of a role does that really play?
Since the economy went into the tank, people are losing jobs left and right, just in case you didn’t know.
So, basically teams get revenue from all kinds of places. They get revenues from ads and merchandise and ticket sales… wait, who wants to buy a jersey or spend a bunch of money on tickets when they have no jobs? Is it just me, or would that money be better spent on say… groceries? It’s not just the Yankees who are spending and its not just the Yankees who are charging a bunch for tickets.
The New York Giants and Jets along with the Dallas Cowboys are instituting this ridiculous new thing called a Personal Seat License (PSL) in which fans basically pay anywhere from $1,000 to $25,000 simply to have the right to purchase tickets. I’m not making this up.
So, who the hell would want to do that? Pretty much the only people who could afford to do that are seriously die hard fans that have lots of extra cheese lying around or they’re rich. In case you didn’t know, most people are not rich. Most people have limited disposable income. Now, the teams are saying its an investment opportunity. Okay, fine. But why not spend that money elsewhere? Maybe a car or the mortgage or a vacation would be better. Why spend that money for season tickets (or the right to buy)?
It seems to me like teams are trying to push their seats to high income people, which would be fine if they made up the majority, but they don’t. And there’s something else: What if they piss off their fans? I’m serious. Loyal fans have gone to the games and bought season tickets and suddenly they have to pay more and the fact that they’ve been buying for years doesn’t give them first call? People don’t like being treated like garbage, they’re weird like that.
The point is that its probably a good idea for franchises to realize that what makes them successful is the presence of fans. Isn’t that the point of the team? If fans have less money to spend on tickets, then it will affect how much these organizations have to spend on… everything. Everything from players, to beat writers, to stadiums, to the guy that puts the salt on the pretzels. So, this idea that they have so much money for players and that they have so much popularity that they can jack up ticket prices on loyal fans may be short lived. People are going to be more hesitant to spend anyway. And with customer service becoming increasingly important in a falling economy, it may be a good idea to give the fans more incentive to go to the games rather than just ignore the hard cores who drive their engines.
A stadium without butts in seats is like a car without wheels. It isn’t going to work.
The Other Stuff.
Go see “Taken” or as I like to call it: Liam Neison Killing People. It’s awesome. I asked the ticket lady for a ticket to see Liam Nieson Killing people, and being a good sport, she responded , “Liam Nieson will be killing people in auditorium 23.” Way to go. I love it when people play along. It makes everyone’s day better and adds a little humor to the day. Here’s some info on the movie. You can see the trailor as well.
Also, you have to make it a point in your life to see “Undefeatable” at some. This movie is so amazingly bad that it becomes great. It’s comic gold. You have to watch it with friends though, or it isn’t as funny. Sometimes, movies hit rock bottom. Other times, movies find a trap door at rock bottom. And other times, movies find that the trap door leads to a giant trampoline and get find themselves back at great. Example: Snakes on a Plane, Friday the 13th, etc. Don’t miss it. You’ll regret it.
Do blind people see when they dream? If so, what do they see?
Song of the Day: Cursive – The Recluse
