Anyone care if baseball players strike? (1 Viewer)

[Jason Seaver]

At one time sporting events were priced so a family could go. Not at 50+ a ticket you are looking at a several hundred dollar outlay for a family.

What sport's more affordable, though? Certainly not basketball - I learned the difference between $25 tickets at Fenway and $25 tickets at The Vault pretty quickly when I went to a Celtics game last year. I doubt football is, either. And neither has low-cost minor and independant league games you can go to.
Of course, it's a fairly moot point - right now, it's looking like a strike won't happen, and a deal could be done by the end of the week. After the "greedy players" voted not to strike, but instead continue to negotiate in good faith.

 

[Dennis Reno]

My wishes:

1. The players strike
2. The strike lasts several years
3. Fans flock to minor league parks to get their fix (at a price they can afford)
4. MLB players sightings are commonplace. Most occur at pawn shops as players sell their jewelry and other possessions for money to pay the bills.

 

[Jed M]

Sorry about that Jason, but if you would have read one more sentence you would have seen that I said almost 100%. I guess I should have said, everyone who does not like the Yankees or Red Sox. My apologies to any Red Sox fans I offended.
Dennis, the pawn shop...

 

[Henry Carmona]

Nope

 

[Scott Merryfield]

What's the capacity on the stadia, there? Might it be possible that 100% of eight games is still fewer tickets sold that 30% of 81?

The Lions probably drew around 600,000 people for 8 games last season. The Tigers drew a little over a million for 81 games. If you add the home games for the two major college teams in the area (Michigan and Michigan State) -- another 12 games -- then major football in southeastern Michigan easily outdraws MLB in only 20 games. UM will draw about 110,000 per game, while MSU attracts another 70,000. I used a figure of 75,000 for the Lions, but that will be reduced to 65,000 this season in the new, smaller stadium.

 

[John Pine]

I also kinda' hope they DO strike! Let me preface by saying, I used to be a HUGE baseball fan! I remember when I was 8, staying up late listening to the Braves with an earpiece plugged into my clock radio. This was a common nightly occurrence. It's a miracle that I was able to stay awake at school. My parents thought I had gone to sleep two hours previously. My grandfather was a scout for the Phillies and Cubs. I played organized baseball from age 5 to the collegiate level. So, you could easily say baseball is in my blood! But ever since 1994, I found it very difficult to stomach the game with the constant squabbling between the players and ownership. The worst part is that even with the work stoppage in 1994 there was no World Series but more importantly, no solution! I disagree with the people that say the fans will always come back! I think a strike would be a VERY good wake-up call for the Players Association and the Owners!

 

[Bill Slack]

Jason:

The worst tickets in the Fleetcenter are in the $22-$27 range. The $10 seats are basically just as good (or, bad...) seats, and are dirt cheap. Until you get to $44+, the seats aren't great (but I always have a good time going to the games in my crappy seats!)

Now, the Bruins are even worse than the C's for prices...

 

[Jason Seaver]

Well, it probably didn't help that nobody told me that my father's wife was terrified of heights. Wouldn't even come out from the concourse.

Anyway, my point was that as much as people complain about the cost of going to a ballgame (and Fenway with it's $18 bleachers/standing room is the most greivous offender) - it's not like the other sports are offering a better bargain (well, maybe the soccer leagues are).

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

So I'll bring up the Yankees again...
I like to bash the Yankees and their defensive fans even more, but the Yankees aren't the problem, they are just the manifestation of the underlying issues that everyone has been discussing here.
Of course, the really humorous sight is watching Boston fans ripping into the Yankees when Boston has the second highest payroll in the league
High payrolls are generally required to win it all, but do not guarantee success. Look at the Rangers with the 3rd highest payroll in the league. And on occasion teams with low payrolls make a run, like my MN Twins.
I don't want to see a strike this year, because I want to see how far the Twins can go. To be honest, the only reason I started watching baseball again after the last strike was because the twins started winning again last year. From 95 to 2000 I watched a few games of the world series, that was it.
I think baseball needs a salary cap. There are certainly big pro's and con's to that, but every time I think about it, I just don't see any other way of stopping salary and ticket price inflation.

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, Yankee fans aren't defensive, we just like to argue and talk smack.
Crawdaddy

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

Robert: you're from the midwest but I was thinking of saying "typical east coast folk" but I really didn't want to spark that flamewar

 

[Robert Crawford]

Mark,
I currently live in the midwest, but I consider NYC Metro Area my home.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I haven't had any interest in baseball since I was about 15.

My interests are:

1. my wife
2. Hockey
3. NFL Football
4. College Basketball
5. College Football

 

[JoshF]

I'm a NYC-dwelling Yankee fan, and there's really nothing to get defensive about. The Yankees are proven champions. Simple as that. If you want to talk about payroll, Boston was #1 last year. If you want to talk about ticket prices, you can still sit in the bleachers at Yankee stadium for $8. Tier seats are $17.

No defensiveness. Just pride.

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

Well a strike date of August 30 has been set.
Link Removed

 

[Dave Poehlman]

The problem with most professional sports:

The players aren't playing it for the love of the game anymore. They're in it for the money. In the old days players worked regular jobs in the off season.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Well a strike date of August 30 has been set.

Good. That will mean more time for football highlights on SportsCenter.

 

[John Pine]

Yes! Excellent!!! With a little luck, maybe this time next year most of the players will be selling insurance!

 

[KeithH]

I hope they do strike. Baseball has been going downhill for years due to greed on the part of players and owners and the ineptitude of Bud Selig. A strike would bring the game down further and infuriate fans. Perhaps if the players, owners, and Selig screw up the game enough, they will actually see the errors in their ways. As bad as the state of the game is right now, I think they all think that everything is fine. :rolleyes

 

[MichaelG]

As bad as the state of the game is right now, I think they all think that everything is fine.

I think you are right, and that is a huge problem.

When they strike (I say that expecting it to happen) I hope that enough fans voice their opinions with their wallets after a resolution. Maybe someday if baseball has to take a big hit financially from all this crap that WE have to deal with, they might start appreciating what they have and restore the game to something similar to what it once was.

What they fail to realize is that baseball is for the FANS, not the players and owners. Without fans there is no game, no million dollar salaries, no limosenes. The players are lucky to be able to work 9 months a year and make huge amounts of money for doing what many of us PAY to do on the weekends. Wake up guys. Not sure what to say about the owners to kick them in the ass, many of them might be just as well off if baseball went in the tank because they usually have enough other ventures besides team ownership.