High gas prices make attending games tough

Are you not going to a Red Sox game this year because of the economy? Has the cost of gas decreased the trips to Boston to spend big bucks on the Sox or other sporting events?

USA Today ran a story last week that said, “Almost one in four people say they decided not to attend a sports event recently because of high gas costs.”

The story recited colleges’ athletic budgets being hit with 15 to 20 percent increases, almost all due to travel.

Is it possible that even sports in this country are subject to having their bubbles burst? Right until the air came gushing out of the housing market, all the “experts” said buy now, prices are going up.

Even as costs increase for all fans in their daily lives, including the costs of going to a sporting event, the general theory is that entertainment businesses, and especially sports, do not take big hits when the economy is in a recession.

The theory is that people need entertainment even more when times are bad just to get away from it all.

Maybe. However, all matters financial have a point of diminishing return. At some point the benefits derived from going to games is offset by the cost.

Ticket prices and the overall cost of attending major league sporting events have increased dramatically. As a family matter, the cost of attending an MLB game in cities like Boston and New York ends up being a complete vacation because of the dollars.

Pro sports might want to take a look at the real estate market and think anew their infallibility as a profit maker.

If the pro sports bubble ever bursts, the tax payer will take the hit again.

All those wasted tax dollars and bonding limits used to finance construction of numerous arenas and parks for the millionaire owners will have to be paid off. Don’t you just know the fine print probably puts that burden right back on the community?

Television stands to be a winner here. If fans don’t go to the games, they are likely to watch and listen in greater numbers. The owners win again.

As with the Sox, operations such as NESN are cash cows that pump money into corporations that are at least in part made up of the same ownership as the team.

More viewers mean more ad dollars and more advertisers.

In that way team owners are covered from a bursting bubble in attendance, but taxpayers are not if payments for loans and fees owed to cities are based on tickets sold.

The negative “ripple effects” of this economy are only spreading. Pro sports teams are fortunate to be on the outer edges of the shores, but waves tend to travel a great distance.

We will see if sports are a safe harbor as this economy continues to tank.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net