NFL ATTENDANCE DOWN

NFL to Improve In-Stadium Attendance

Barney Carleton

Sport Business Now

April 16th, 2013

The NFl has Plenty of lucrative contract deals with all of the major networks to promote their league and make it viewable for the fans. NFL RedZone is a program on sundays on the NFL channel that shows every scoring play as it happens and anytime a team enters the red zone or in lames term inside the opposing teams 20 yard line. The advancement of Televisions in the past decade are making it hard for people to leave the house but it seems maybe the most on football sundays. Ticket prices in the NFL on average has risen 16% since 2011 from $67 dollars a ticket to $78. The steady increase year to year limits the amount of people that attend events on a regular basis, making the TV a little more convenient and easier on the wallet.

The NFL it seems is trying to renovate their most dated and almost obsolete stadiums by either renovations or starting from scratch with a brand new stadium. The 49ers are the latest to erect a billion dollar pus home for their San Fransisco franchise, following the new Meadowlands shared by the Jets and Giants, not to also mention the biggest church in the south, the Cowboy's Texas Stadium. The NFL hopes these new venues can encourage fans to the gate and into the seats to be involved with the magic of the NFL environment. Also with the addition of the New England Patriots pioneering the future of the game day experience by installing WiFi though out the entire stadium for fans to enjoy with the purchase of their ticket. Roger Goodell commissioner of the NFL also mandated that all NFL teams will have cameras inside the locker rooms available to fans and select video that can only be seen in the stadium. 

Although the $9 billion dollar NFL is not hurting for the extra ticket sales but they need to offset all the renovations and rebuilding of these sports temples. All these great features are all great to increase the fan involvement at games but I believe if ticket prices continue to rise as they have year after year, it will motivate more and more fans to stay in and watch from their HD flat screen investments.

ARE STUDENT ATHLETES IN GOOD HANDS

Crazed college coaches deserve to get canned

Rick Methot

Lebanon Daily News

4/15/2013

There are beliefs that humans are by nature are born evil and learn to do good through compassion. Year after year goes by where the headlines of the sports pages show the evil that currently exists in our society and in our collegiate athletics. The latest with Rutger's former  men's basketball coach Mike Rice (Right) physically, verbally and mentally abusing his players. It doesn't stop at basketball several years in the past Mike Leech Head Football Coach of Texas Tech allegedly locked wide receiver Adam James in a electrical closet and forced not to sit down after sustaining a concussion in which he was ultimately let go. Are coaches put through proper background evaluations and personality reviews to be in charge of these young athletes. 

There have been calls for stricter background checks for the sales of fire arms but should the NCAA and universities follow the same path? It is not only found at the division 1 level but in all levels of competition. The head women's basketball coach at division II Indian University of Pennsylvania was just recently let go for mistreatment of players, in fact the whole entire staff was. With the publicity of the Mike Rice incident at Rutgers players are no longer scared of consequences if the were to blow the whistle on unethical coaching practices. This I feel can have a positive impact for the future of athletic environments for players as long as players respect the rules that are in place to protect them and not as a scapegoat for failure or for crying wolf. 

MLB SALARIES OUT OF HAND?

Ailing A-Rod Will Make More Than the Astros

Ronald Blum

Associated Press / Courier Post

March 29, 2013

Alex Rodriguez is set to make $29 Million dollars this season making him the highest paid player in the league for the 13th straight season. $29 Million dollars is more than the $25 Million of the entire starting line up for the Houston Astros. Major League Baseball is the only professional league where there is no spending cap for franchises which in turn allows teams to pay players any amount of money they please. The MLB makes up for smaller market or struggling teams with a luxury tax for any team with revenues over $100 Million dollars such as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Tigers. The Yankees again opened this season for 15th in a row for the highest payroll in the league. The top 10 highest paid players in the MLB will make in excess of $20 Million dollars. Even with the lack of production in recent years from Alex Rodriquez will still be the highest paid player all because of the contract he signed nearly a decade ago.

Alex Rodriguez surprisingly doesn't even hail in comparison to some of the highest paid athletes such as Floyd Mayweather ($85M), Manny Paquio ($62M), Tiger Woods ($59M) and LeBron James ($53M).  A question that seems to be asked frequently when people see the numbers these teams throw around to have the best of the best on the field, when will the god like salaries reach the maximum. The answer to that may be once ticket prices become un affordable for the general public. When you see major multi million dollar contracts being signed the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is usually in raising the price of tickets to offset the contract. Also a better stat to throw in the mix is the President of the United States of America is set to make his annual salary of $475 thousand dollars which is less than 3/4 of MLB salaries, does anyone see a problem with that?

MYTHS OF THE STUDENT ATHLETE

Kevin Ware's Broken Leg and the Orgin of the "Student-Athlete" Myth 

Travis Waldron
Think Progress
February 1, 2013

The gruesome injury that left many college basketball fans running for the garbage can, only raises more concern to the protection of college athletes. All student athletes in the NCAA on any level are required to have their own insurance before they are able to step on any playing surface. The players insurance covers any cost for doctor visits, therapy and surgeries that maybe needed by the athlete and the institutions insurance will cover any additional costs. This can still raise premiums of players families insurance all the while not being able to claim any workman's compensation. Don't be confused this should be classified as a work related injury, college athletics especially division 1 are part / full time jobs no doubt. 

A lawsuit of a former Fort Lewis A&M Aggie died after a hit to the head he received while playing football, his widow filed for workmen's compensation death benefits but was not rewarded when the court found that because he played for the school did not make him and employee of the school, that a scholarship was not a form of payment for his services to the university. Schools in many cases grant athletic scholarships on a yearly basis and if a student athlete cannot compete the following season due to injury there is no guarantee to the player that he will have his scholarship renewed the following season. Colleges, universities and the NCAA need to find a more effective way to protect and compensate student athletes better on and off the field.

BOY BY BIRTH, WOMEN BY COLLEGE...

Transgender athletes could take Title IX scholarships

John Pudner

March 27, 2013

With implementation of title IX in full effect in todays sports scene and with society beginning to show tolerance for individuals sexuality, new questions arise with the emergence of transgender athletes. If you are born as a by and by surgery are a woman, are you allowed to take a born female athletic scholarship. According to the NCAA If you are a born male after a year of hormone transition can be eligible for a female athletic scholarship. Where on the other hand if you are a born female you cannot compete any farther in a women's sport as soon as you start any hormone transition. It was originally believed the NCAA would adopt the IOC's policy where it is a much more restrictive and lengthier 

process. 

After years of struggle for women to finally gain the same right to athletic funding as men do, this is just another twist that will put title IX to its ultimate test which in turn could make for major changes to this delicate piece of legislation. The sport scene has already seen an emergence in transgender athletes with  a 6 foot 6 college basketball player pictured above and also in women's MMA. Scientists have been studying the effects of hormones on the human body for years now but there are still many un answered questions. What if the hormones help can the individual to that gender but what if they help too much, what if that athlete in turn has an unfair advantage against those who can't take hormones. These are all questions the NCAA, IOC and many other governing bodies of athletics will need to have full and complete understanding of or title IX may become a thing of the past.

PUBLIC TIRED OF FINANCING STADIUMS

Anger in Wake of Marlins’ Stadium Deal Threatens Dolphins’ Renovation Plan

Ken Belson
March 25, 2013

Click for link to news report

The Miami Dolphins are proposing to Miami-Dade County for $200 Million in public taxes to Renovate the 26 year old Sun Life Stadium. After they just funded 3/4 of the Miami Marlins new 
$643 million dollar stadium with the counties tax money. They are looking for other ways to compensate for the tax money the Dolphins would be receiving by raising other taxes. When eligible voters were asked in a survey 73% opposed the funding for the renovations by raising the hotel tax by 1% and giving the Dolphins $90 million in tax cuts over 30 years. This is terrible timing for the Dolphins who are asking for a lot from a city who basically just bought a new Major League Baseball stadium. Miami has hosted 10 super bowls in the past and may not be likely to host one in the near future with the advancement of other franchise's new stadiums around the league. 

It is estimated that $9 billion in public tax money have been used to fund new stadiums and in all 69 teams play in new facilities all across the nations from collegiate to professional. The collegiate teams have in the recent decade have been trying to play essentially "keeping up with the jones'" to update and build new facilities to boost recruiting efforts and attract players to the university. The Dolphins say the renovations will create 4,000 new jobs for the area and also attract new businesses, boosting the economy. but how much boost can they really add when they just built the new marlins stadium to do the same thing. The average cost to the public to fund new stadiums is approximately $327 million, $327 million that could be spent on the city in a much more efficient way. Although if Miami were to land another super bowl bid it may turn out to be more of a return on investment than with the Marlins.