July 2nd, 2008 - TV Ratings
There's Good News and... never mind
If you live in the real world, here are a few of today's happier headlines:
"Global Warming Is a Cause of This Year's Extreme Weather"
"Stocks off $2.1 trillion this year: Biggest June loss since Depression"
"Many Retirees Traveling Less, Working More"
...and my personal favorite:
"So Is That Black Hole Really Going To Destroy Earth by Labor Day?
However if you wanna visit the one place where all the news isn't bad, in fact it's all pretty good, stay here:
"Euro 2008 Big Winner: The Beautiful Game"
"Tyson Gay's Dizzying Display Hard To Fathom"
"Lowest Payroll in Baseball Leads the Major Leagues"
See, it's really not all that bad!
Headlines like those reaffirms ones' trust that sports, despite all its myriad warts, remains the escapist avenue it has always been. Especially that last one. How can you not feel good about a team whose player salaries total $299-million less that the combined totals for the second place Red Sox and the third place Yankees?
It's stuff like that, that despite the current U.S. President being about as popular as jock itch and the two contenders to his throne trying to out-screw-up one another - all while the economy continues its unimpeded death spiral, make us count on sports even more.
In tough times, we need our distractions - and numbers indicate right now that, we need 'em a LOT!
Looking back at the spring's TV ratings for virtually every major sporting event, from the Stanley Cup Finals to the U.S. Open, the audiences exploded practically exponentially. The Stanley Cup Finals doubled last year's ratings and were the highest since 2002. The Kentucky Derby was the most-watched race since 2004. The Belmont Stakes saw an increase of 169% over last year. The NBA Finals saw a 50% increase over 2007 and game 6 had its biggest audience since a certain player named Jordan was still in uniform. Finally - the U.S. Open's Sunday ratings were up 53% over 2006 and Monday's playoff saw 90% increase over the last US Open Monday playoff.
Ninety Percent!
Okay, granted, that one might have something to do with this year's playoff being between Rocco Mediate and Tiger "No Knee" Woods instead of 2001's Retief Goosen and Mark Brooks.
Regardless, we're not just tuning in; we're heading out as well. The Preakness set an attendance record. The Stanley Cup playoffs were a sell-out. Same with the NBA. And according to MLB President Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball is projecting attendance topping 80 million with revenues of $6.08 billion - both of which would be records.
Amazing - especially considering the price of milk has jacked up some 40% since the start of the year and gas prices have gone from "way too high" to "are you frikin' kidding me?"
So the question is, will there be a tipping point? In the past, sports have always been recession proof. The perfect diversion from things like a dive in the economy, or a war, or a housing crisis, or high unemployment, or an energy crisis, folks have always headed out to the ballpark or the arena for a few brief hours of respite.
This time however, things are different. In an almost prefect storm, all those catastrophes are happening all at once, and seemingly no one can figure out what to do about any of them.
With no answers, and no solutions even on the horizon, suddenly those discretionary dollars set aside for a few tickets, a dog and beer might be applied elsewhere - like into groceries or a half tank of gas.
According to several surveys out this past month, that tipping point may have already been reached.
In a June Reuters/Zogby poll, almost 15 per cent of those surveyed said they would be going to less sporting events this year, with most citing the economy as the reason. About 28 percent are spending less on food and souvenirs.
Baseball's DuPuy conceded that revenues from merchandise and food have taken a significant hit.
According to another poll, things are actually worse. A Kelley Blue Book survey of new car buyers found that 27 per cent have already stopped attending sporting events altogether, while another 25 per cent said they will attend them less often.
Teams are offering deals to entice fans and families back - free gas cards with a ticket, or all you can eat family sections. However, how long can sports teams go on as they have been, considering their operating costs have also jumped as much as ours have? Baseball teams budgeted at the start of the season for how much travelling would cost, how much a hot dog and a hot dog bun would cost etc.
Just consider travel alone. Jet fuel has increased by 40% since opening day (!) meaning that in the past two months their travelling costs have doubled. If teams want to continue staying competitive, they cannot dump salary, so their only avenue to combat increased expenses is to eat it, and next year, increase ticket prices.
This is precisely what they cannot do if they expect an already disillusioned public to file through those turnstiles next year.
On the one hand, the news is a potential disaster - with sports being a visible casualty of an economy in recession - or as some analysts have said a depression.
On the other hand - things are great! On TV, sports has never been more popular, and probably never had a larger audience...
...and ironically enough, now that fans can no longer afford to leave their homes, a captive one.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Get complete sports betting stats at betED.com.
There's Good News and... never mind
If you live in the real world, here are a few of today's happier headlines:
"Global Warming Is a Cause of This Year's Extreme Weather"
"Stocks off $2.1 trillion this year: Biggest June loss since Depression"
"Many Retirees Traveling Less, Working More"
...and my personal favorite:
"So Is That Black Hole Really Going To Destroy Earth by Labor Day?
However if you wanna visit the one place where all the news isn't bad, in fact it's all pretty good, stay here:
"Euro 2008 Big Winner: The Beautiful Game"
"Tyson Gay's Dizzying Display Hard To Fathom"
"Lowest Payroll in Baseball Leads the Major Leagues"
See, it's really not all that bad!
Headlines like those reaffirms ones' trust that sports, despite all its myriad warts, remains the escapist avenue it has always been. Especially that last one. How can you not feel good about a team whose player salaries total $299-million less that the combined totals for the second place Red Sox and the third place Yankees?
It's stuff like that, that despite the current U.S. President being about as popular as jock itch and the two contenders to his throne trying to out-screw-up one another - all while the economy continues its unimpeded death spiral, make us count on sports even more.
In tough times, we need our distractions - and numbers indicate right now that, we need 'em a LOT!
Looking back at the spring's TV ratings for virtually every major sporting event, from the Stanley Cup Finals to the U.S. Open, the audiences exploded practically exponentially. The Stanley Cup Finals doubled last year's ratings and were the highest since 2002. The Kentucky Derby was the most-watched race since 2004. The Belmont Stakes saw an increase of 169% over last year. The NBA Finals saw a 50% increase over 2007 and game 6 had its biggest audience since a certain player named Jordan was still in uniform. Finally - the U.S. Open's Sunday ratings were up 53% over 2006 and Monday's playoff saw 90% increase over the last US Open Monday playoff.
Ninety Percent!
Okay, granted, that one might have something to do with this year's playoff being between Rocco Mediate and Tiger "No Knee" Woods instead of 2001's Retief Goosen and Mark Brooks.
Regardless, we're not just tuning in; we're heading out as well. The Preakness set an attendance record. The Stanley Cup playoffs were a sell-out. Same with the NBA. And according to MLB President Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball is projecting attendance topping 80 million with revenues of $6.08 billion - both of which would be records.
Amazing - especially considering the price of milk has jacked up some 40% since the start of the year and gas prices have gone from "way too high" to "are you frikin' kidding me?"
So the question is, will there be a tipping point? In the past, sports have always been recession proof. The perfect diversion from things like a dive in the economy, or a war, or a housing crisis, or high unemployment, or an energy crisis, folks have always headed out to the ballpark or the arena for a few brief hours of respite.
This time however, things are different. In an almost prefect storm, all those catastrophes are happening all at once, and seemingly no one can figure out what to do about any of them.
With no answers, and no solutions even on the horizon, suddenly those discretionary dollars set aside for a few tickets, a dog and beer might be applied elsewhere - like into groceries or a half tank of gas.
According to several surveys out this past month, that tipping point may have already been reached.
In a June Reuters/Zogby poll, almost 15 per cent of those surveyed said they would be going to less sporting events this year, with most citing the economy as the reason. About 28 percent are spending less on food and souvenirs.
Baseball's DuPuy conceded that revenues from merchandise and food have taken a significant hit.
According to another poll, things are actually worse. A Kelley Blue Book survey of new car buyers found that 27 per cent have already stopped attending sporting events altogether, while another 25 per cent said they will attend them less often.
Teams are offering deals to entice fans and families back - free gas cards with a ticket, or all you can eat family sections. However, how long can sports teams go on as they have been, considering their operating costs have also jumped as much as ours have? Baseball teams budgeted at the start of the season for how much travelling would cost, how much a hot dog and a hot dog bun would cost etc.
Just consider travel alone. Jet fuel has increased by 40% since opening day (!) meaning that in the past two months their travelling costs have doubled. If teams want to continue staying competitive, they cannot dump salary, so their only avenue to combat increased expenses is to eat it, and next year, increase ticket prices.
This is precisely what they cannot do if they expect an already disillusioned public to file through those turnstiles next year.
On the one hand, the news is a potential disaster - with sports being a visible casualty of an economy in recession - or as some analysts have said a depression.
On the other hand - things are great! On TV, sports has never been more popular, and probably never had a larger audience...
...and ironically enough, now that fans can no longer afford to leave their homes, a captive one.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Get complete sports betting stats at betED.com.
