Major League Sports with Major Pay

This is the time of the year where you can walk down the street and almost every time you will see someone wearing a sports jersey or hat. Baseball is heating up with wild card races and MVP races, football preseason is almost over and it seems as though everyday is a fantasy draft. Both basketball and hockey are about to start and European soccer has just gotten underway. College's are heating up with the start of football season. As a result for all this, millions and millions of dollars are about to spent by the fans and the teams. But at what point does the spending go to far?

First lets start with the fans. Kid me not, I am as bad as the worst of them. My room is covered in sports jerseys, scarves and flags. One of my few conditions for the person I marry, is that they must be willing to spend our life savings on front row tickets for the Baltimore Orioles when (if they ever) make the World Series. So now that we established that I am part of the problem, lets examine the problem. Fans will spend absurd amounts of money of things they do not need. Or better yet, too much money on stuff they want. The sports industry in whole is a monopoly. They realize they can jack up the prices on anything related to sport, simply because they are the only ones. You can go compare grocery stores for prices, electric stores for quality and prices but you can not compare sports. A football ticket is a football ticket no matter where you are, though worse teams will be cheaper. A baseball jersey is not changing in price unless you buy on ebay. What if you live in Seattle, Washington and want to watch the New York Knicks on TV. You go online and buy the NBA's online TV option. There is really no other way. All the TV packages are going to be the same price. And with the rapid growth and media coverage of sports, the fan wants more and more to prove their loyalty. I keep waiting for the Baltimore Orioles to reward me somehow for being a email subscriber for the past 7 years. Though I do always get a lovely email on my birthday. The demand for sports is at a place it has never been before and as such fans are spending more and more money.

The teams themselves do not make it easier. Walk into an beer store and buy a case of Bud Light for between 12 and 15 dollars. Go to a sports game and buy 1 beer for 8 dollars. As if the small fortune we paid to go to the game didn't prove our loyalty to the team, our 8 dollars will prove that we love the team so much we will pay for the team to have a good image with the beer company. And of course we must wear 90 dollar jerseys to the games. Because we all know that if you wear a plain T-Shirt or hooded sweatshirt you are not as dedicated of a fan. The fans need the approval of the other random fans you pass while walking into the stadium. That is crucial to proving your dedication. When Babe Ruth played baseball, people wore suits to the games. They enjoyed the sport and the game. Another problem the athletes have.

Today, the major athletes get paid for 1 season the amount if not more than most people will make in a lifetime. And most of these athletes have little or no education. 2 of the most known faces in sports, Derek Jeter (of the New York Yankees) and Kobe Bryant (of the Los Angles Lakers) did not attend college. Though both athletes have done numerous great things for their cities, their education is not there at all. And athletes demand salaries that are just unheard of. Refusing 10 million dollars for 11.5 million before they play 1 professional game is just wrong. Athletes need to step back and realize that they are some of the most lucky people in the world, having a career in sports is what little boys and girls everywhere dream of. Most athletes are living their dreams, and yet their dreams are not good enough alone. I am still convinced that one day some owner will put together a team of "nobody's" that just love to play the game and that team will win. Because they will playing for love, not contract extensions.

The sports industry has taken advantage of the interest market and blown it out of portion. If only 1/10th of the money that goes into the professional sports market went into feeding the hungry and housing the homeless then this country would be on pace to fixing lots of problems. Maybe the professional sports leagues should do just that, take 1/10th of every sale, no matter ticket sales, clothing sales, or food sales and use it for the common good of the country. That is the though I will leave you with.

Keep on smiling

Update

I am sorry I have not posted in 2 months now. I have been working at a summer camp in Maine. I have tons of stuff to write about and will start posting again very soon. Please check back for more as the weeks go on. I promise to not disapoint.

Keep on smiling