One of the next bubbles to burst will be...

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Professional sports, don't you think?

Already cutbacks in the NFL office.


Ticket prices and corporate sponsorships in professional sports will fall, and big salary contracts will follow.

[John Kochtoston]

Professional sports, don't you think?

Already cutbacks in the NFL office.


Ticket prices and corporate sponsorships in professional sports will fall, and big salary contracts will follow.

Don't know that there's a bubble in professional sports to begin with, though it's a little surprising that the cutbacks have begun to this magnitude (the NBA and MLB made similar cutbacks earlier this year). Usually, people make sports tickets their last cut in discretionary spending, and corporate types recognize that.

There's not really any money to be made in pro sports, at least from an ownership perspective.

[85Sooner]

Yeah, the economy is in the tank as it were but folks are still dishing out 500-1800 per ticket to the BCS game.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

Yeah, the economy is in the tank as it were but folks are still dishing out 500-1800 per ticket to the BCS game.

Championships games/matches probably aren't affected, but the number of folks paying $50/75 for endzone seats to sub-.500 teams during the regular season in football I bet will be affected. Same for $100 seats for lower level-seating basketball. And the number of families shelling out a couple hundred to take in a baseball game may decrease. I understand the popular SF Giants are already set to lower ticket prices for next season.

Arena football is on the fringe, and may be on its way out.

[bluedogok]

It already has quite a bit in racing since that is built pretty much on advertising revenue. All but the top Nascar teams struggling to find sponsors, even though are having some struggle. You have a bunch more ride-buyers than in the past. Look at all the "clean" cars that ran in IRL last year. Audi has pulled out of both the ALMS and LMS racing season and is only going to run in the Sebring 12 Hours and the 24 Hours of LeMans, Porsche already announced a pull out of the LMP2 class at the end of last season.

In the highest dollar racing there is, Formula 1 this past week had Honda pull out and other teams are rumored to be on the brink of closing up. Tracks are starting to say no to Bernie's outrageous sanctioning fees (like Indy did last year and Canada next season) and other races are questionable. Even some of the Middle East and Asia races are questioning how they can host a race at 30-35 million in just sanctioning fees. All the while Bernie thinks things will continue as usual and wants more and more each year.

[Ike]

Don't know that there's a bubble in professional sports to begin with, though it's a little surprising that the cutbacks have begun to this magnitude (the NBA and MLB made similar cutbacks earlier this year). Usually, people make sports tickets their last cut in discretionary spending, and corporate types recognize that.

There's not really any money to be made in pro sports, at least from an ownership perspective.

The real money comes from merchandising, and thats one of the first things that people will cut back discretionary spending on. Ticket sales may not decrease much, but merchandise sales will decrease a lot. As will sales of concessions at a ballgame.

[John Kochtoston]

The real money comes from merchandising, and thats one of the first things that people will cut back discretionary spending on. Ticket sales may not decrease much, but merchandise sales will decrease a lot. As will sales of concessions at a ballgame.

I think the bigger issue is corporate dollars, either in advertising or purchasing high-dollar seats. Sure, merchandising may take a hit, but it's also much easier to make merchandise that appeals to a lower-end consumer than it is to take a 25% cut in ad revenue - ticket revenue. I hadn't heard that Formula 1 was having trouble attracting sponsors, though. That's a bit worrisome.

[Boomer.....]

Apparently the next bubble was the Arena Football League

REPORT: AFL TO CANCEL 2009 SEASON (http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/12/10/report-afl-to-cancel-2009-season/)

[JohnnyMack]

C.C. Sabathia hopes this isn't true.

[SoonerInKCMO]

Championships games/matches probably aren't affected, but the number of folks paying $50/75 for endzone seats to sub-.500 teams during the regular season in football I bet will be affected. Same for $100 seats for lower level-seating basketball. And the number of families shelling out a couple hundred to take in a baseball game may decrease. I understand the popular SF Giants are already set to lower ticket prices for next season.

Arena football is on the fringe, and may be on its way out.


Apparently the next bubble was the Arena Football League

REPORT: AFL TO CANCEL 2009 SEASON (http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/12/10/report-afl-to-cancel-2009-season/)

SJS is, like, psychic and ****.

[tommieharris91]

It's not really a bubble. This was going to hit everyone. This is also one reason why deflation is a bad thing, because with it comes cuts in wages.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

It's not really a bubble. This was going to hit everyone. This is also one reason why deflation is a bad thing, because with it comes cuts in wages.

No, not a bubble, literally - but figuratively, as a metaphor for an entire market inflated far beyond its real value. Bubbles are said to “burst” when a general awareness of the folly emerges and the price drops.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

NFL: Times, and salaries, may be a changin’

Comments 0By Berry Tramel
Published: December 14, 2008
The difference in money between a quarterback picked in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft and a quarterback picked in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft could be substantial.

Many NFL officials, including commissioner Roger Goodell, are championing a rookie wage scale for 2010, after the current collective bargaining agreement expires. Goodell called it "ridiculous” to give rookies lucrative contracts.

"There’s something wrong about the system,” Goodell said earlier this year at a sports symposium hosted by the Chautauqua Institution, John Wawrow reported. "The money should go to people who perform.”

Before his death earlier this year, NFL union chief Gene Upshaw said the players would not accept a rookie wage scale. The league currently has a rookie payroll cap within the overall payroll cap, but those numbers apply only to the first-year salary. Most high draft picks sign contracts ranging from four to six years.

"The value of the draft has priced itself out of existence,” Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian told NBCsports.com. "The idea that the worst team would get help from a good player or players is out the window because you are saddled in ‘salary cap hell’ if the guy is anything but an almost immediate Pro Bowler. And it must change.

"The union has to give us a firm, definitive rookie salary cap. We’re perfectly willing to have the money that does not go to the rookies go to the veterans. Nobody is looking to save money. But we’re sick and tired of giving exorbitant, incredible sums of money to players who haven’t proven they can do anything but play against Eastern Michigan.”

Compare the NFL system to the NBA, which has a rookie wage scale. Atlanta Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan was selected third in the NFL Draft last spring; he signed a six-year, $72-million contract, with $34.75 million guaranteed. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s Kevin Durant was picked second in the 2007 NBA Draft and will make about $19 million total his first four seasons.

[SanJoaquinSooner]

the rookie salary bubble must burst

[Jerk]

I fear the next bubble to burst will be commercial real estate.

Watch what happens after Christmas.

I read that somewhere and it makes sense, but hey, I'm just a truck driver.

[bluedogok]

As someone involved in commercial architecture and development, it has already started to some degree. I think it really depends on each market and how overbuilt it is.

[BudSooner]

It already has quite a bit in racing since that is built pretty much on advertising revenue. All but the top Nascar teams struggling to find sponsors, even though are having some struggle. You have a bunch more ride-buyers than in the past. Look at all the "clean" cars that ran in IRL last year. Audi has pulled out of both the ALMS and LMS racing season and is only going to run in the Sebring 12 Hours and the 24 Hours of LeMans, Porsche already announced a pull out of the LMP2 class at the end of last season.

In the highest dollar racing there is, Formula 1 this past week had Honda pull out and other teams are rumored to be on the brink of closing up. Tracks are starting to say no to Bernie's outrageous sanctioning fees (like Indy did last year and Canada next season) and other races are questionable. Even some of the Middle East and Asia races are questioning how they can host a race at 30-35 million in just sanctioning fees. All the while Bernie thinks things will continue as usual and wants more and more each year.

Various teams layoff workers during the off season, but it's usually a small handful. This list if from Jayski.com...


The Unofficial NASCAR related Layoff Count since end of season:
(exceptions noted)
Dale Earnhardt Inc -- 116
Ganassi -- 76 + Nationwide team
Petty Enterprises -- 65
Bill Davis Racing -- 60
Richard Petty Driving Experience -- approx 45
Roush Fenway Racing -- 40-50
Furniture Row -- 25 [approx]
Earnhardt-Childress Racing Technologies -- 25 [approx]
Wood Brothers -- 22
Hendrick Motorsports -- 19
Stewart-Haas -- 16
Richard Childress Racing -- 15
Red Bull Racing -- approx 15
JTG Daugherty Racing -- 12
Michael Waltrip Racing -- 12
Ernie Elliott Inc [Ganassi engines] -- 9
Joe Gibbs Engines -- approx 5
Hall of Fame -- heard many were let go this week, no number yet
Yates -- Unknown

Note, that the reason Dale Earnhardt Inc laid off so much was in part due to the merger with Ganassi racing....though those workers were laid off at seasons end, I expect some of them will return.

They will field the 42Montoya/1Truex Jr/8Almirola/41Bobby LaBonte...supposedly.