Sports Economic Thread

[BruiserKC 0]

I figured this was better off here as far as I'm interested in how sports right now is being effected by the state of the economy.

 

On the one hand, you have CC Sabathia just sign for $161 million and Mark Teixeira being offered $160 million by the Angels over 8 years.

 

On the flip side, the Houston Comets (WNBA's most successful franchise) folds up, Arena Football might be finished for 2009 and for good, and Tiger and LeBron both lose massive sponsors.

 

Where does sports go from here? Will people go to the games and keep them successful since they need something to forget where they are right now or will it be a matter of time before the big sports start taking more of a hit?

[bob_barron 0]

You really can't compare MLB to two fringe leagues. And while some players are getting absurd contracts, you can see the economy already effecting baseball free agency.

 

The WNBA only exists just because the NBA doesn't want the bad pub of closing it.

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Based on the contracts being signed in the current MLB free agent market, teams are paying about $4.4 million per marginal win. This is down from the $4.8-$5.0 million paid in recent offseasons. It also marks the first time in recent history that the cost of a free agent acquisition has gone down over the previous year (and a 10% drop is hefty). The economy is definitely having a dampening effect on player contracts, but it remains to be seen if it's a short-term reaction (such as Vlad's deal in '02) to a problem or a fundamental overhaul in the way teams do business.

[Celtic Guardian 0]

You really can't compare MLB to two fringe leagues. And while some players are getting absurd contracts, you can see the economy already effecting baseball free agency.

 

The WNBA only exists just because the NBA doesn't want the bad pub of closing it.

 

Aside from PR or PC reasoning, WNBA teams conveniently fill arena dates during the NBA off-season. With more WNBA teams becoming independently owned apart from their NBA counterparts, we'll get a better read on whether that league can truly survive.

 

Anyway, the econmony should really take the biggest hit on sports organizations that more heavily depend on sponsorships, especially automotive-related sponsorships. Think NASCAR, F1 and the like.

 

[Guest]

We won't know the true scope of how the economy will hurt important sporting leagues until summer 2009. I expect a lot of NBA teams to be hurting by that point.

[BruiserKC 0]

You really can't compare MLB to two fringe leagues. And while some players are getting absurd contracts, you can see the economy already effecting baseball free agency.

 

The WNBA only exists just because the NBA doesn't want the bad pub of closing it.

 

To me, gauging the whole economic situation started by the large number of small businesses and banks that were closing. Yes, they close every day but they were closing at an alarming rate. Eventually, people started to realize it once the larger companies started to head south, like Wachovia, Lehman Brothers, etc.

 

And really I don't think I was intending to compare two fringe leagues to MLB. I'm just asking whether it will be a matter of time before MLB, the NFL, and the NBA really start to feel the pinch, especially if the recession continues to linger and/or worsen. As Cheech put it, free agent $ is down, not to mention we don't have as much movement in the FA market. Manny would have been a slam-dunk sign in the past, ditto with Teixeiera. They would have been inked already and they're still job searching.

 

[the max 0]

The big ticket free agents sometimes wait until december. Vlad Guerrero didn't sign until almost the middle of january in 2004. They don't always just sign on the first day of free-agency, like the NHL or something.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Directv canceled their Hot Pass NASCAR coverage which isn't a good sign for NASCAR..they're probably in the biggest trouble of all the major sports.

 

 

[naiwf 0]

When did NASCAR become a major sport?

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

NASCAR is pretty big. They have large network contracts. The NHL is going to be hurting a lot by this because they are primarily a gate driven league. Anaheim isn't selling out anymore and Detroit is really hurting by auto industry shutting down. The salary cap will probably be lowered and that's going to hurt all the teams. The good news that ticket prices should go down.

[Red Baron 0]

You really can't compare MLB to two fringe leagues. And while some players are getting absurd contracts, you can see the economy already effecting baseball free agency.

 

The WNBA only exists just because the NBA doesn't want the bad pub of closing it.

 

Aside from PR or PC reasoning, WNBA teams conveniently fill arena dates during the NBA off-season. With more WNBA teams becoming independently owned apart from their NBA counterparts, we'll get a better read on whether that league can truly survive.

 

Anyway, the econmony should really take the biggest hit on sports organizations that more heavily depend on sponsorships, especially automotive-related sponsorships. Think NASCAR, F1 and the like.

 

 

Well F1 lost Honda for 09. Honda had the second biggest budget in F1 next behind Toyota.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Supposedly GM is considering pulling some or all of their NASCAR sponsorships.

 

FWIW, I've heard NASCAR is "the most popular spectator sport in America", whatever that means.

[naiwf 0]

It just means that NASCAR can draw at least 100,000 to every race track for all 36 races. It's misleading because that's a minimum of 3.6 million fans, and even if 200,000 showed up to every race that's 7.2 million, which is basically how many people the Mets and Yankees draw in a given year. It's kind of retarded to consider NASCAR's entire attendance greater than other sports when a couple of teams in the same city can bring in that many fans in a sport that has fewer teams than NASCAR does.

[Guest Czecherbear]

I think that not frittering away money on rednecks driving in circles should totally be a condition of loaning all this money. I don't care if it sinks NASCAR. Good! Better off without it.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Huh, just found this link... http://andrewsstarspage.com/NHL-Business/average-salary.htm

 

The 2007 average salaries for the big 4 Sports...

 

NBA Salary: $4.1 Million (4,177,266)

MLB Salary: $2.9 Million (2,944,556)

NHL Salary: $1.9 Million (1,906,793)

NFL Salary: $1.2 Million (1,191,514)

 

I'm curious how the economy impacts the salaries of the big 4 sports and in particular, the NBA, which featured the highest average salary for 2007 (and most likely 2008). What's more amazing is that in the early 1980's players were making an average of anywhere from $70,000 - $90,000.

[CanadianChris 0]

Average salary per team would be a more accurate indicator. Not to state the obvious, but the NBA can afford to have salaries that much higher with only 12 players per roster. The average NFL team pays out twice as much in player salaries as the average NBA team. Baseball salaries are about 50% higher.