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02-04-2003, 07:03 AM
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big pro sports fan.
I grew up going to about every 5th Maple Leafs home Game, have been to NHL games in Montreal, Philly, Ottawa, Tampa and Buffalo. I used to go see the Blue Jays at least once a month, including playoffs and World Series games. I've also gone to at least one NFL game a year, usually in Buffalo at least once a year & have been to AFC playoff games, AFC Championship games and NFC playoff games.
My argument is that all pro sports, have priced themselves out of the spending range of most families. For example, NHL hockey, with an average ticket price of $50 has crossed the threshold of being completely unaffordable for the average family. Baseball...if you go to Skydome to see the Blue Jays, nosebleed seats are in the $30 range, and they're around the $40-50 avg ticket price now. Football's a little easier to swallow, if you only attend one game a year at around the $40-$50 range for tickets. Someone on this message board had posted that the all star game is for the kids. Check out the prices for these babys & tell me that you're gonna send your kid....http://www.primeseattickets.com/nhl/nhl_allstar_tickets.html
For a family of four, you're looking at a $300/night minimum for any pro sports event, once you factor in all the other costs (food/parking/souvenirs, etc.) I make good money, but I'll be damned if I'll put that amount of money in the pockets of these multi-millionaire clowns. $300 could buy me a weekend at a nice resort with my family. $300 could buy 3 DVD players or a new TV. $300 would pay for 5 months of my Cable TV & high speed internet service. $300 pays for 1 year of hockey for one of my kids.
When you see teams moving/folding and the greedy owners calling the fans out for not coming to games, it has nothing to do with the fans....you can only squeeze so much blood from a stone. It has to do with these enormous player salaries that have gotten to the economic breaking point, where teams are asking for government handouts left & right or threatening to move.
I think cities like Buffalo and Ottawa and to a lesser extent other Canadian cities like Calgary & Edmonton are the canaries in the coalmine, i.e. these NHL teams may drop dead first because of the stink of high player salaries forcing ticket prices so high that it's impossible to fill the stands. What's really unfortunate is that across the board, the NHL & other pro sports are losing their young fan base because of these high prices. As a parent, I can't justify taking my kids to a game, like my dad used to do for us.
I'm just curious....how many are in the same boat ?
I grew up going to about every 5th Maple Leafs home Game, have been to NHL games in Montreal, Philly, Ottawa, Tampa and Buffalo. I used to go see the Blue Jays at least once a month, including playoffs and World Series games. I've also gone to at least one NFL game a year, usually in Buffalo at least once a year & have been to AFC playoff games, AFC Championship games and NFC playoff games.
My argument is that all pro sports, have priced themselves out of the spending range of most families. For example, NHL hockey, with an average ticket price of $50 has crossed the threshold of being completely unaffordable for the average family. Baseball...if you go to Skydome to see the Blue Jays, nosebleed seats are in the $30 range, and they're around the $40-50 avg ticket price now. Football's a little easier to swallow, if you only attend one game a year at around the $40-$50 range for tickets. Someone on this message board had posted that the all star game is for the kids. Check out the prices for these babys & tell me that you're gonna send your kid....http://www.primeseattickets.com/nhl/nhl_allstar_tickets.html
For a family of four, you're looking at a $300/night minimum for any pro sports event, once you factor in all the other costs (food/parking/souvenirs, etc.) I make good money, but I'll be damned if I'll put that amount of money in the pockets of these multi-millionaire clowns. $300 could buy me a weekend at a nice resort with my family. $300 could buy 3 DVD players or a new TV. $300 would pay for 5 months of my Cable TV & high speed internet service. $300 pays for 1 year of hockey for one of my kids.
When you see teams moving/folding and the greedy owners calling the fans out for not coming to games, it has nothing to do with the fans....you can only squeeze so much blood from a stone. It has to do with these enormous player salaries that have gotten to the economic breaking point, where teams are asking for government handouts left & right or threatening to move.
I think cities like Buffalo and Ottawa and to a lesser extent other Canadian cities like Calgary & Edmonton are the canaries in the coalmine, i.e. these NHL teams may drop dead first because of the stink of high player salaries forcing ticket prices so high that it's impossible to fill the stands. What's really unfortunate is that across the board, the NHL & other pro sports are losing their young fan base because of these high prices. As a parent, I can't justify taking my kids to a game, like my dad used to do for us.
I'm just curious....how many are in the same boat ?