BS: Are sports too expensive now

Subject: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Jul 25 - 10:03 AM

A ticket for 4 pro games and streaming services can easily cost over $4,000 a year in the US. When you add sports gambling fees the price goes sky high. Sports used to be a democratic shared experience for everyone. Now a Super Bowl ticket is only reachable in dreams for the average fan. Teams want to maximize their profit but at what cost?

Diverse socioeconomic fans used to easily go to the ballpark but it has become a first-class expense today. Are the cheap seats really cheap?

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Jul 25 - 02:26 PM

No. I can walk the hills for free, Play tennis for free. Play soccer for free (not that I do!) Run for free (again, not that I do) And many other things

I can watch the local cricket teams free. I can watch the local amateur soccer teams for free. I can watch local lower-league soccer teams for a very reasonable price.

What is too expensive is attending games that are of no interest to most, played by teams and players that have no interest in their fans.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Jul 25 - 03:24 PM

When superstars have $500 million dollar contracts I believe the fans pay.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: cujimmy
Date: 07 Jul 25 - 04:50 PM

I was talking to a friend who supports Leeds UTD today, he went to their shop to buy a replica football strip, they would no accept cash, it was card only. I believe other clubs are the same now as well. Some clubs like West Ham have done away with tickets of children, so children have to pay adult prices. None league games have seen quite an increase in their attendances.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: meself
Date: 09 Jul 25 - 11:00 AM

Not for me. It's free market capitalism, supply and demand. Professional sports exist to part you from your money; they are not required for sustenance of life, and you are free to participate or not.

Next question: Is music too expensive now?

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Charmion
Date: 10 Jul 25 - 08:46 PM

Music is always available “for free” if you’re willing to learn how to make it yourself.

Sport? Professional sport, especially at the elite level, is mostly about gambling these days. Gambling is always too expensive.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Jul 25 - 10:39 PM

I worked in a city with several major sports venues (the Dallas Cowboys football stadium, the Texas Rangers baseball stadium, and a couple of repurposed facilities they outgrew and built new) and I have never set foot in any of them. No interest in organized sports, and no interest in the hassle of driving to a game, parking, finding the car again after, and wading through traffic on the way out.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: gillymor
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 07:26 AM

When I was much younger and living in the D.C. area I went to Redskins, Capitals, Bullets, Senators and Orioles Games games on occasion and attended the Star/News event on the pro tennis circuit every year. There's something fun and exciting about being "out with the crowd" but over time I realized you get a much better feel of the game when you watch it on TV. I still go up to Ft. Myers to see the Mighty Mussels play baseball a few times a season in the Florida State League and that runs me about 20 bucks with parking which is not bad by today's standards and they do play a pretty fast brand of ball. A perfectly manicured ball field on a summer evening is a thing of beauty as is the pageantry of the game itself.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Hrothgar
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 07:35 AM

Participation is getting bloody expensive, too. We are looking at something like $500 (Australian) for blokes to play local park rugby for a season.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: gillymor
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 07:41 AM

"but over time I realized you get a much better feel of the game when you watch it on TV." That doesn't necessarily apply to a tennis match if you have good vantage point.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 08:21 AM

> Professional sport, especially at the elite level,
> is mostly about gambling these days.

Certainly true of horse-racing, as it is of poker (which I was told is "a silly game which doesn't make sense unless you're playing it for stakes which hurt").

After observing the phenomenon over the years, I have come to the conclusion that ownership of sporting teams has two main purposes:

*) It gives the owner something that makes a loss for tax reasons.

*) The same Veblen good function as wearing a Cartier watch in public, or placing seriously large bets at a top-flight casino: Potlatch, with a side order of "it's what all the other big boys *do*".

The owners can also choose to throw their weight around, but that's a side-effect, mainly of use to the Advanced Player. If monies somehow accrue from associated side hustles like the betting industry, that's a bonus, but it detracts from the principal functions.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: gillymor
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 08:30 AM

Sadly, the cable network where I get pretty all my sports news and analysis, ESPN, now spends a lot of air time promoting it's online betting parlor. This proliferation of sports wagering has already led to some serious scandals and I've a feeling it's just the tip of the ice berg.

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: gillymor
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 08:31 AM

Left out a "much". Jeesh!

Subject: RE: BS: Are sports too expensive now
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 11 Jul 25 - 12:18 PM

So it will seem ironic after my discussion of not liking those sports stadia to read that I've been to the US Tennis Open a couple of times. I was working as an Urban Park Ranger in New York City and they wanted us in our ranger uniforms (almost identical to NPS uniforms) there for a high profile look. I was able to go in and watch a little. Gads - make a peep and you're persona non-grata. And the rich white entitled audience was nauseating.