The sport industry is losing participants.

The following numbers from the Sportsplex Operators and Developers Association (SODA) highlight that people are not registering for leagues/events as they have in the past.

So far we have southern facilities reporting declines as high as 35% in league enrollments in baseball/softball.

The Northeast is getting clobbered as well with an average decline of about 24% in baseball/softball, 17% in youth soccer and 20% in Adult Flag Football.

Canada is down about 17-20% in baseball/softball thus far, according to Steve Russell, and it is early yet for signups.

UCONN's Loss?

I am not talking about March Madness, I am talking about bowling and UConn's trip to the 2009 International Bowl. While UConn received $1.1 million from the Big East for participating in the game, almost the entire amount was spent including losing $258,000 on unused tickets. When all was said and done the school netted only $18,484. The question is whether that is enough of a return to spend so much money? The school could easily have lost that much and more. Almost $140,000 was spent just on travel costs associated with the band and cheerleaders.

At some point a business case needs to be made for such expenditures. Besides a small return, did the school gain enough value from the expense. many businesses can make a small profit, but if the investment does not help the company reach its goals then most companies would forgo the potential risk. The question I have is whether or not a college attending a minor bowl game is really pursuing its goals, or taking a huge risk for very little gain.
Gil-

What will falter next

First the AFL, then the Houston Comets, what will happen next during these tough financial times. The ski industry has great weather, but what will happen at the end of the season when the numbers are crunched? What will happen with golf courses when rounds are very expensive and disposable income has decreased? Sport is a release for many, but the price to participate has increased beyond the purse strings of many. I remember when bowling games were around $1.00 and you could take several warm-up bowls and rent shoes for less than a $1.00. Now shoes rent for over $4.00 and games are around the same price. How will a new generation of kids grow up on bowling when they infrequently participate because of the cost. This phenomena will impact many sport (not just spectator sports) and might encourage greater participation in sports that require less cost, less equipment, and less travel time. Maybe it is time to develop some new games and/or sports.

AFL in '09

The Arena Football league founded in 1987 has suspended the 2009 season to retool for the following year. This will probably not be the last league to go through some major reorganization during these hard economic times. However, what are owners and players doing? The Mets and Yankees have asked New York for an additional $450 million in assistance. free agents are asking for even more money. The greed out there in the industry can quickly turn people away from sports. Yes, sport is a release and there will be fans. But with more companies slashing spending and their payrolls, sport better take a critical look at itself or it will make itself economically obsolete and alienate even more fans. Once burned or annoyed, will these fans ever come back?
Gil-

Bad Economy

The New Jersey Nets have announced a promotion to help those affected by the downturn in the economy. The team is offering up to four free tickets for select games to unemployed fans who submit their resume to the Nets Job Bank. Plus, these fans are invited to a career fair this Saturday at the Nets arena, and the team will distribute the submitted resumes to its various corporate sponsors. (Newark Star Ledger) Source from Veritix Sports Marketing Newsletter.

Interesting promotion

Red Sox Fan Sues Over Playoff Promotion
Tom Rotunno of CNBC Sports has reported that Boston Red Sox fan Gisela Levin has filed a class action law suit against Taunton, MA based furniture company Jordan's Furniture. She claims their promotion, which offers free furniture to anyone who purchased furniture during a promotional period if the Red Sox sweep the World Series, is an illegal lottery and therefore against the law in Massachusetts. Jordan's Furniture ran a similar promotion in 2007 when the Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies, resulting in them issuing between $20-$30 million worth of furniture to 24,000 Red Sox fans for free. Jordan's has announced that they do not expect the judge to rule against them as precedents have already been established in their favor.

From:
http://ventaboutsports.blogspot.com/2008/11/red-sox-fan-sues-over-playoff-promotion.html

Olympics 2012

Should England pull out of hosting the 2012 Olympics? Cost have tripled to date and one of the leading advocates and Olympic executives in England recently indicated that if they would have seen the economic collapse coming, they would not have bid to host the Olympics. Maybe we should put some limits on how much countries can spend on the Olympics. It is really nice to have a great and expensive party. However, if people are not receiving the health care and food they need, maybe we should spend less on the Olympics and more on ordinary people.Gil-