"A fool and his money are soon parted."

-Thomas Tusser
[Reply]

That is true for ALL professional sports.:-)
[Reply]

81 home games vs. 10 home games :-)
[Reply]

But that means that many people are watching.
[Reply]

No arguments here my friend. But in this case it'd be incredibly foolish.
[Reply]

Most NFL games are sold out and teams have a list for season tickets about a mile long. Baseball games rarely sell out, outside of rivalry weekends. Plus you can get to a MLB game for around $5-15. Not sure of any NFL teams who offer $5 tickets, maybe the Panthers and Jaguars I suppose. Try getting a ticket to a Steelers game vs. trying to get a ticket to a Pirates game, but of course you have 81 games to choose from for the baseball game. :-)
[Reply]

Very much so. $30 mil a year is worth it now, but when he gets old and playing with a cane, then those final 2-4 years are gonna be a drain on payroll.
[Reply]

Not exactly, that means many people have an opportunity to watch. When you have 81 home games and can't even draw 5000 a night (not even going to mention TV viewership, or lack thereof), that speaks volumes.
[Reply]

And if baseball shortened its season, then they would have more sellouts. It would suck to shorten it up to only 16 games a year though.
[Reply]

Sure, he's the best hitter in baseball (and it's not all those close), but the fact of the matter is he doesn't play an important defensive position (unlike A-Rod, who's a gold glove winning SS & 3rd baseman) and that has to factor in, doesn't it?:-)

I guess he could always be the DH for the Yankees.:-):-)
[Reply]

Of course there are many other factors to why baseball players demand so much money, but the teams have much more revenue coming in because of the size of the season and revenue sharing to draw from. Some teams spend the money, some put it in their pocket. The same could be said for NFL teams and NBA teams alike. :-)

I don't think the NFL is going to alienate their fans like the NHL did during their lockout and lose a majority of their television contracts and young fan base. The NHL does put a better product on the ice now, but no one can watch it with most games being on Versus or OLN. The NHL has lost a fan base purely because they are no longer as accessible, the NFL will not lose that. But I digress. :-)
[Reply]

Scalper tickets, yes. Normal admission, no. Not for good seats anyway. Yankee tickets are outrageous.
TV viewership is not as big as NFL agreed, but they have a decent audience. FOX wouldn't be competing to televise their games if there was no audience.
[Reply]

Agreed. Baseball has the advantage of long seasons (I think it is still about 30-60 games too long) but you won't see it shortened ever. Late season games, particularly between non-contenders are a drain and players (much less fans) don't even bother to show up. Who watches Pirates' series in late September? :-)
[Reply]

Which isn't a problem for most teams. What's funny is that the teams that are drawing bad crowds have good teams :-)

You can't compare viewer ship or attendance between baseball and football. The way in which their season and playoffs are structured is to different. And plenty of people are watching baseball, buying merchandise, and going to games. Look how much more baseball players make than footballs on average, pretty impressive numbers. Even the baseball minimum salary is much larger :-)
[Reply]

:-):-)
True.
[Reply]

Well said.:-)
[Reply]

You can buy bleacher seats at most venues for under $10 face value, which for my money are better than sitting in the last row in any football stadium for $40+. I am a bigger football fan than anything, but a sports fan no doubt. For my money, I would rather take a family of 4 to a baseball game for around $50-75 with some snacks and beverages than a football game where you would spend more than that much on 2 tickets. :-)
[Reply]

Which is a good thing for baseball IMHO.:-)
[Reply]

Bad teams fill their stadiums (Cubs) all the time. But the same is even more true for the NFL. Even the Browns and Raiders find a way to put butts in seats on a regular basis. :-)

The average salaries are staggering and its amazing that the sport that has the largest roster size, largest risk for injury, such a large viewership and fanbase and shortest careers has such a small payroll comparative to the NBA and MLB. :-)
[Reply]

I agree, it is 'America's Pastime' and continues to be the best 'value' in pro sports. It is very accessible to even the smallest of fans. It makes it easier for teams to connect with their fanbase when you can get a kid into a game for $5 and he has the chance to see a pro-athlete that close and could take home a foul ball or something similar. At NBA and NFL games you likely leave with an empty wallet. :-)
[Reply]