In the past few months, the NFL has warned of possible budget shortfalls and said it will cut about 150 jobs right after the season ends. NASCAR and the NBA have already laid off dozens of workers. Major League Baseball has trimmed a number of spots from the once highly profitable internet portion of its business and the NHL has instituted a hiring freeze.
Along exactly these lines, Brett Yormark, chief executive of the New Jersey Nets, recently told the Wall Street Journal: "We're not just competing for people's entertainment dollars anymore. We're going up against milk and orange juice."
According to a recent USA Today report, fans across the board are buying fewer and fewer tickets to sporting events. Those who do show up are choosing cheaper seats, buying less food, drink and souvenirs. Luxury boxes are going unsold, sponsors are vanishing.
To prevent further hemorrhaging, teams like the Boston Red Sox are starting to institute a price freeze on tickets—despite the fact that Boston has sold out its last 469 games (the longest streak in baseball), while the Oakland Athletics are actually slashing ticket costs by 5 percent, after a 13.4 percent attendance drop last season.
And, even crazier, as Sports Illustrated’s Bob Reiter pointed out this morning: “In early October, Paul Kinzer, the agent for the Angels' record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez, made it known that the starting point for a free-agent deal for his client would be $75 million over five years. On Tuesday, slightly more than two months later, Rodriguez agreed to a three-year deal with the New York Mets valued at $37 million. In other words, Rodriguez, who saved a record 62 games last year and blew only seven, is now guaranteed less than half the total compensation he had realistically hoped to earn.”
Seriously, when the economy actually starts effecting baseball players’ salaries, well, to borrow an old Mad magazine Alfred E. Newman line: "Yes, me worry.”
NASCAR—which is probably not the sport to be a part of in the middle of a massive energy crisis—might be in the worst position. It costs about 100 million a year to sponsor one of those race cars and with the automobile industry floundering finding a sucker (excuse me, a sponsor) is getting harder and harder to come by.
But the first true casualty arrived earlier today, when the 22-year-old Arena Football League decided to cancel its 2009 season.
Sure, the AFL has shut its doors only temporarily, supposedly to develop a long term plan to improve its economic model, but whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen. Also whether or not anybody really cares also remains to be seen—but that’s a whole different story.
