« How Forest City Ratner (quite possibly) saved $55 million on "Arena Land" | Main | New York Suitors Prepare for James »
November 17, 2008
Recession Is a Relative Term in Baseball
The New York Times
by William C. Rhoden
With much of the nation reeling, with banks failing, workers being laid off and homes being foreclosed, sports owners continue to build castles and pay players by the millions. At least one team, the Knicks, is paying a player millions not to play.
Recession? What recession?
...Sports leagues like the N.B.A., the N.F.L. and Major League Baseball are fairy-tale lands, an otherworld of packed stadiums, charter flights, multimillion-dollar training facilities, multimillion-dollar player contracts paid by multibillionaire owners.
Yet in a time of severe economic crisis, the leagues, at least for now, are holding forth, if not completely thriving.
NoLandGrab: Rhoden goes on to explore several reasons as to why pro leagues appear to be somewhat recession-proof, but he misses the the two most obvious: heaps of public subsidies and anti-trust exemptions.
Posted by eric at November 17, 2008 11:13 AM