Talking about ARod and other athletes busted for PEDs, Dan Patrick this morning explained, "It all trickles down," meaning athletes inflate their stats with drugs, command big contracts, resulting in higher ticket and cable TV prices.
So much for the argument that the athlete is only hurting himself.
It's a two way street though. If a team is mediocre, with so-so players and a poor record, the cheapest tickets in the world won't fill the stadium. But if the team signs a couple stars and starts to win big----and ticket prices inflate----people seem willing to pay the sky high limit to get in and watch the show. So yeah, it's okay to be upset with the crack dealer----but if there weren't so many crack addicts, he'd be out of business.
Posted by: Angelo | July 23, 2013 at 07:56 AM
Also, as a sports fan myself----I find it hard to be mad at the athletes for commanding the big money. They seem to be the target of rage, while movie actors and musical performers skate by. But when a movie star asks for over 20 million dollars per film, that finds its way to the ticket price too. Ditto for concerts----have you seen the prices for a decent concert these days?
Posted by: Angelo | July 23, 2013 at 07:59 AM
Hard to say there is that much effect - it seems like there is no shortage of supply of people who want to be baseball players. The players that best contribute to winning are theoretically always going to get the highest salaries that owners can afford, based on the demand for tickets for their team and market. Players who use drugs to get ahead are arguably just taking the place of other more-deserving players.
Posted by: Shaun | July 23, 2013 at 06:36 PM