Professional sports teams are bloated and living off the fat of its fans. We pay outrageous prices to attend games and pay for brand new stadiums so millionaire players and billionaire owners can become even richer. We pour our hearts, souls, and hard-earned money into our pro teams in hopes that they'll win us a title, and yet we're often rewarded with poor managment (Timberwolves) or owners who either pocket the money instead of spending it on the team (hello Twins!) or spend enough to be competitive but not enough to truly win (Suns owner Robert Sarver is a perfect example).
In the tough economic times we're facing, I don't like the prospects of anybody losing a job. I'm very thankful to have the job I have, and hopefully will have for a long time to come. But it's difficult to look at professional sports in America right now, and NOT see that there could be some very tough times ahead for some franchises and their employees. Relocation, and perhaps even contraction, could be a real possibility by 2010, and again, while I would hate to see people lose their jobs (and by "people" I don't mean the players or greedy owners, but those behind the scenes folks working their tails off to try and make it work), it could be actually be a good thing for sports fans.
One is that leagues that rely heavily on ticket sales could be in for a world of hurt (we're already seeing it in hockey and basketball) which could result in the relocation or contraction of teams. Ok, this actually doesn't favor anybody, but if you're a fan of a team in no danger of losing it's team a better supported or smaller league is a good thing. It would obviously not be good for fans (or employees) of cities that would lose teams, but the reality is that they weren't supporting the team enough to merit keeping it. Putting a team in a stronger market (like the NBA going back to Seattle or the NHL relocating a team in Canada) makes the league stronger, as would contracting a few teams by making the talent pool smaller and deeper, and the league more competitive. The NFL is the one pro sport that should be almost completely immune to this because they make SO much money from their TV contract. While owners won't admit it, published reports say that because of the TV money, NFL franchises basically are in the black before they ever receive one dollar from ticket sales, parking, merchandising or concessions.
The second thing no league, not even the NFL, is immune from is that cities and states will no longer be willing to pay for new stadiums and arenas. This is what I'm most excited about because owners won't be able to hold fans hostage by making threats like "build me a new arena or I'm moving to a city that will!" because there won't be any other cities willing to do it.
Here then is how the economy could effect the pro sports leagues in America (I couldn't even begin to care about how this effects NASCAR or MLS):
WNBA
Bill Simmons knows some pretty connected people, and while he talked about NBA basketball being in trouble in a few cities, the one that jumped out at me was him hearing that WNBA is all but dead. Again, sad that people lose their jobs but come on, the WNBA has been a charity case for the NBA from day one and has NEVER made money. Ever. Look, it's all well and good to promote women's athletics, but I've never understood trying to force a women's professional league down our throats. High school and college athletics are important for women and should be funded by those institutions so that women have an opportunity to play, just like men's sports like golf or swimming aren't revenue generating sports but should be supported where they can be. But a pro league? Pro leagues should exist only if there are fans who are willing to pay to go watch it. Because fans have not and will not embrace a women's professional basketball league does not mean we're a bunch of sexist bigots, it means women's basketball is boring as hell to watch and there's no way I, or apparently anyone else, could be convinced to pay money to see it. Women's tennis, golf, beach volleyball and figure skating are doing very well because people want to pay to see it. If women complain about not enough support for the WNBA, then maybe more of them should have gone to watch it.
NBA
Bill mentioned that there's quiet rumors circulating that the New Orleans Hornets could be gone as soon as next year, and that Sacramento, Memphis, Charlotte and New Jersey could be next. League commish David Stern and every commissioner is going to fight contraction as long as possible, but I do not see four or five relocation spots the NBA could move to. Vegas and Seattle seem like obvious cities to get new teams until you remember neither have arenas the NBA deems suitable, and in this economy there's no way either place would approve tax payer dollars to build a new arena or upgrade their existing ones. I believe St. Louis has a suitable arena and maybe even Vancouver could be brought back into the mix (in defense of my hometown the Grizzlies had horrible ownership and were horribly ran. Actually that hasn't changed at all since they moved to Memphis), but really, that's about it. So if things really are going to get worse before they get better we could see some teams move or fold.
NHL
I love the game of hockey, but hate all the changes made by Gary Bettman since he became commissioner in the early 1990's. The biggest blunder was expanding south of the Mason Dixon line. It's been painfully obvious from the start that people in the South just do not care about hockey, and yet Bettman has refused to admit this. Because the NHL is more dependent on ticket sales than any of the other "Big 4" the teams that haven't been supported well in Nashville, Atlanta, Florida, Carolina, and Phoenix (as well as "northern" locales like Long Island and Columbus) could be doomed. Phoenix will be lucky to survive the season and I can't imagine how they'll be able to afford a team next year. The other places mentioned have had the same or less support, and while Bettman has been able to keep them afloat until now, you have to think he's running out of resources. While the Canadian economy has done ok, the dollar has sunk again, meaning the six Canadian cashcow franchises aren't yielding as much. Bettman will soon be faced with the difficult decision of either relocating teams back to Canada (greater Toronto, Winnipeg, and Quebec City could all support teams right now!!!), or continue to give teams to American cities that don't want them like Houston, Kansas City or Vegas. Still, the writing is on the wall. Or perhaps, even contraction. Again, I'd hate to see good people lose their jobs, but the NHL doesn't have enough talent or interest for 30 teams. If the economy forces them to cut down to 24 or 26, it'd do wonders for the games and for the hardcore fans that have been there all along.
MLB
This will be the litmus test for pro leagues. Baseball is still the clear number two sport in America, and was doing VERY well before this year. But not only will the economy hurt the game, the A-Rod and steroid scandal could keep people away too. Maybe fans find the money and turn a blind eye and ear to steroids, but it'll be very interesting to see how the smaller market teams like in Florida, Arizona, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and others fare this season.
NFL
Ok so the these guys in LA could be a problem for Vikings fans. But Majestic Real Estate Co's bid to build and finance its own stadium in an LA suburb is still a long way from a reality, and I'm still not convinced LA really wants an NFL team back that badly. While Vikes owner Ziggy Wilf COULD have the leverage to tell Minnesotans to build him a new stadium or the team is gone to LA by 2010, it's still very possible that LA won't be an option. And if LA's not an option, I don't see another city on this continent the Vikings could move to (even San Antonio, where the Alamo Dome is becoming outdated). Ziggy could very well be forced to spend his own billions on a new stadium, and for Vikings fans, and fans of every other team for that matter, that would be a welcome victory. And perhaps, a sign that the times are indeed a changin' for sports fans in this country. Stay tuned.
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3 comments:
Vis-a-vis the WNBA: Bill Simmons, frankly, doesn't know what he's talking about. For one, he is a man who doesn't like the WNBA. He's made no secret of that. However, the other problem with Simmons is that a lot of times, he presents his wishful thinking as confirmed fact. He's been busted by the ombudsmen at ESPN a couple of times for trying to pass off opinions as facts, so my advice to Simmons is "quote someone, or shut up". At its worst, it's yellow journalism.
Simmons has said the WNBA was near death many, many times before. He's been saying it ever since he arrived at ESPN. Quite frankly, he doesn't know anything about anything.
Ok so it might be a little premature to be declaring the funeral for the WNBA, but I don't think it's a stretch to think that very soon it's going to be very tough for the NBA to try to keep so of its own struggling franchises afloat AND keep the WNBA alive.
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