What is happening in sports right now? More specifically, where is all this money coming from — and what is coming next? Granted, there have always been big sport contracts in pro sports, including when Reggie Jackson signed a contract with the New York Yankees in 1976 for $3.5 million (at the time an astronomical amount of money for a pro athlete). Since the Jackson signing, countless athletes from a variety of sports have cashed in (including Alex Rodriguez’s $252 million contract in 2000), but after fans started to get used to that kind of money, Juan Soto goes and signs a 15 year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets this week. Yes, we are quickly approaching a billion dollar contract for an individual professional athlete, and there does not seem to be any end in sight for how far sports owners will pay elite athletes. Similar to the big money some individual athletes now experience, pro and college(pro?) leagues have also adopted a “sky’s-the-limit” mentality when it comes to revenues, even if it means extending the college football playoffs to 17 games for the eventual playoff winner! The numbers are crazy, for sure, but are there other ripple effects from these changes that impact the overall sport experience?
The fan cost to all of this…
Short of sports owners and college presidents absorbing the fiscal cost of attracting and/or keeping their talent (and that’s not going to happen), fans will continue to pay more by means of ticket prices and streaming services. In fact, the price of going to a game right now is already cost-prohibitive for most people — and these numbers will only increase. Depending on where you live and what team you would like to see, the cost for a family of four to simply get in the door for a game (note: not premium seats) will easily cost upwards of $1,000, if not more. When you factor in other travel costs, lodging (if staying out of town), parking at the game, and food and drink during the game, you can easily see how costs can quickly get out of control. Do you have a couple thousand dollars laying around to watch a regular season game between two average teams, and to watch the game from nosebleed seats in upper deck? That is a harsh reality in 2024, and things can get even uglier if you lose a few bets (now legal) while watching the expense game you are attending!
Are we pricing fans out of sports? Stadiums are still full, for the most part, but how much can fans absorb when it comes to sport entertainment and their wallet? While actually going to a game is one thing, the cost to sit at home and watch games isn’t cheap, either. In fact, depending on what teams you follow, you could end up purchasing multiple streaming packages, each costing hundreds of dollars. As sports leaders continue to enable out-of-control spending, are they concerned with the costs being passed along to fans? Does it matter to them if fan support dwindles, so long as they have lucrative television deals? In college, we have already witnessed entire conferences being dismantled for fiscal reasons, essentially eliminating previous school rivalries that existed for decades. The college playoffs have also expanded (for more money) to the point of absurdity, now sitting at 12 teams (with some people wanting even more). Is anyone paying attention to potential long-term problems with fan interest, support, and even fatigue?
Final thoughts
Pro and college sports have a tremendous following in America today, and it would be a shame if fans lose interest because of owner greed. To date, most stadiums still flourish with fans, but is this kind of support sustainable as increasingly more fans get priced out? The trend, to date, has simply been more-more-more, but the big dollars being spent are largely dependent on the amount of dollars coming in — and at some point you have to believe more and more fans will simply not have the means. As we push out the everyday, hard working boisterous fans, and more regularly cater to elites who can afford exorbitant ticket prices to use the experience as a backdrop to business deals, are we also fundamentally changing the sports fan experience? And even the home field advantage, in some cases? As the dollars increase, changes follow, and not all of these changes will be welcomed.
drstankovich.com
