Just about every year, the costs to attend your favorite team play a game increases. This always makes me wonder, at what point will the costs be so high that in order to afford season tickets, you would have to have a really high paying career, like an athlete for instance. 
The stands at a football game would be full of baseball players in the offseason and the football player's families. Maybe some boxers or pro beach volleyball players as well, but there are not as many of those to fill the stadiums.
Those stadiums you see get more expensive to build. The owners of the teams somehow get the Cities to pay for some or most of these rising stadium costs saying that the taxpayers, yes the same taxpayers that are having their taxes increased to pay for the stadiums, will generate funds in the form of entertainment taxes to attend the games. In the future, when taxes are so high because the stadiums cost a billion dollars to build (not so distant future, the new stadium proposed for the New York football Giants and Jets will be well over a billion dollars.) the taxpayers will not be able to afford $75 a seat for the games plus $30 for parking, $4 for a 20oz soda that would be $1 in a vending machine or 50 by the six pack on sale at a grocery store, $5.50 for a $2 personal pizza, $4 for a $1 bag of cracker jacks, $6 for a $1.50 beer, $150 for an official game jersey of their favorite player, $30 for a super bowl championship hat with their team logo on it (if you are lucky enough to bo rooting for the world champs ) etc. etc.
The only people who may be able to attend in addition to other athletes would be politicians. I mean if they think the average blue collar worker can afford the increased taxes, to support a team that they can no longer afford to see play live, they must be making the big money, too. It is hard work to figure out which points brought up in council meeting that you want to make a behind the scene deal that if the supporters of that point will support your point or agree to spend $1 million to widen a bridge that is hardly used in your subburb, you will support. We had this problem with the Pittsburgh Pirates when I lived in PA. My father was the stereotypical Pittsburgher...he worked in a steel mill. The guys at the mill were the staple of the community and when baseball went on strike in the 80s and 90s to increase their minimum salary for minor league and bench players, these real American workers were talking in the lunch room about how some of these players are making more in one game, yes they are paid to play a game, then the steel workers make in a year. The area, being made of still a high percentage of blue collar workers at the time started to shun the 'millionaire whiners' and attendance dropped drastically after the strike ended.
And baseball is still the cheapest of all sporting events at the professional level to attend. Football costs more per game, and hockey assumes that although their sport is the most gritty, its fans are all top executives. I have not seen a Penguins game live, even though Hockey is my favorite sport, since 1998 mainly because I can not afford tickets! (ok fine so I don't live in PA anymore, meh)
Rising Costs of Sporting Events
May 15th, 2006 at 04:08 pm
May 15th, 2006 at 04:50 pm 1147711809
May 15th, 2006 at 10:05 pm 1147730739
Since my daughter played basketball in 4th grade we watch those every Saturday in season, and both kids play soccer so we watch those in person every season. Those games are free to attend. Basketball enrollment is only $25 and they play 8 games. Socccer is a little more pricey because the fee to play pays for the upkeep of the soccer park, so its $52.50 per child.
Once or twice a season we will go see the Baby Bell's play baseball. They are a sub minor league so we have to purchase tickets, but every grocery store in town gives you a coupon for reduced admission ($2 per person) or you can get one at the chamber of commerce. And you can pack in your own snacks.
These games are much more fun and they make you laugh a lot, too. And I don't begrudge the price the way I would with the "millionaire whiners" you spoke of. Pretty soon we may start seeing "billionaire whiners" if this keeps up. Entitled stupidity, I say.
May 16th, 2006 at 03:16 am 1147749414
Oh yes - really enjoy the minor league team games.
May 16th, 2006 at 11:29 am 1147778983