Sports No Longer Recession Proof

I remember being at Miller park on March 29th of this year, standing behind home plate, talking with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio. Of course, the subject turned to the economy. I remember Attanasio saying to me that baseball, and all sports, are pretty much recession proof.

Well, as we are smack dab in the middle of a recession, maybe the deepest one in years, I wonder if Attanasio feels the same now as he did on March 29th. If he went to the Bradley Center last night to watch the Bucks and Phoenix Suns, he'd probably change his mind.

The Bucks were 3-3 heading into the game, looking like John Hammond's rebuilding project was going well. The Suns have an upper echelon team, with future Hall of Famers like Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash, a beast of a young mkan in Amare Stooudemire, and one of the classiest acts in sports in Grant Hill. This was a game I wanted to see. So, thanks to a buddy of mine, I was able to score a pair of tickets (in the interest of full disclosure, he gave them to me, rather than sell them to me).

Imagine my surprise, my utter shock, when I walked into the BC on a Saturday night and noticed the building was not nearly as full as I expected it to be. I know the Bucks don't draw during the week, but they were always able to draw on weekends, especially Saturday nights, and especially against a marquee attraction like the Suns.

I'm not blaming the Bucks here. They are doing everything they can to try and turn it around on the court. Off the court, they are offering fans the chance to purchase tickets that would normally cost between $25 and $30 for $10 a pop. and still, there were plenty of empty seats. I know the boxscore said that nearly 18,000 showed up but that's well below capacity, and accounts only for tickets sold, not actual bodies in the seats. How did this happen?

I'll tell you how. The economy. While many of us are looking for a new job, wondering how we're going to make ends meet, the price of pro sports keeps going up and up and up. Again, the Bucks are doing their best, but they aren't necessarily getting a lot of help.

For instance, the main garage across the street from the Bradley Center, which three years ago cost just ten bucks to park your car in while you went to the game, now costs twenty dollars. The parking lot across the street from that garage is now twenty-five bucks. The lot which was a couple of blocks away from the BC, which you didn't mind the walk knowing you were saving a few bucks, now costs fifteen bucks. In other words, it's not the bargain it used to be.

Concessions (food and souvenirs) are the other big problems. While the team holds the line on ticket prices as best they can, prices for hats, shirts, etc. continue to go up. The BC keeps on raising the price for food and drinks (I bought a bottle of water for $3.50 because it was cheaper than buying a beer).

Keep in mind that's just for two of us. What if you have a family of four? If you paid for the tickets I had last night, you dropped $244 just to get into the building. Now, add on another $20 to park, and maybe another $50 in food and drink, and that comes to $314! Who has that kind of disposable income these days?

That's why you had so many empty seats last night. That's why teams like the Bucks struggle at the gate.

What's the answer? It seems simple, right? Lower prices, make it more affordable for fans. The Bucks tried to do that, to an extent. It hasn't helped because others still have their hands out saying 'pay up.'

The economy that many in sports said wouldn't affect business, has reared its head. Hang on, this could wind up being a very bumpy ride.