Predict the Future of Professional Sports!!

Narz

No, not who's going to win this year's World Series but the future of profession sports (in the US or your home country) in general.

I'd say when profession sports organizations can no longer support themselves it's a good sign TSHHTF.
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perdition79

Sports are cheap entertainment that can be broadcast to the masses. More importantly, in the past couple decades the have become little more than a means of advertising consumer goods to a captive audience.
I think when municipalities can no longer afford to subsidize the cost of stadiums and arenas, they will be purchased, on the cheap, by corporations. What successful companies would pass up such effective advertising?
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Heineken

Professional sports as we know them have no future. They are are pure creature of the fossil-fuel age.
There may remain some broadcasted events that will have small, local live audiences.
There is the potential for much more violence in sports, a la ancient Rome.
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Leanan · News Editor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 4575

I'm a sports fan, and I've been thinking about this a lot. There will always be sports, I'm sure, but not on the current scale.
This article touches on some of the ways high oil prices have impacted sports: Sports world begins to sputter under weight of fuel prices

I think peak oil will have more of an effect than many think. Sure, Derek Jeter will probably never have to worry about buying gas for his Ford Edge. But how did he get where he is? Little League, school sports programs, minor league baseball. They don't have a lot of money, but that's where the talent for the pros comes from. A recent survey found that 28% of Americans have cut back on attending sports events because of high gas prices.

Even the really big money - sports TV - may be more vulnerable than you'd think. There's a push now for "a la carte" pricing in cable. I think that will strengthen as the economy worsens. And if it passes, those most hurt will be sports fans. ESPN is the most expensive channel, and only 1/5 of viewers ever watch it. If sports fans had to pay the full cost of sports programming themselves, it would add a big chunk to their cable bills.

And it might seem unthinkable to many now, but in the future, many Americans are going to find out that cable TV is a luxury, not a necessity. Without that cash cow, sports is not going to be nearly as profitable.
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Byron100

MrBill · Expert Joined: Sep 15, 2005 Posts: 5650 Location: Eurasia

I think cheering for the local team will make a huge come back. People need something to cheer for and about. Even in many poor countries where they have nothing they follow and cheer enthusiastically for their local teams and hometown heros.

Sports stars on the other hand will see their paycheques shrink as TV audiences wane and less advertizing dollars support professional sports. Ticket prices will have to fall to reflect less disposable income. Lower sponsorship and lower ticket revenue will mean teams can no longer travel as much nor as far. There will be more regional rivalries again.

Probably smaller sports venues as well as they age and need to be replaced. Its hard to imagine artificial ice in places like Tampa for example.

I saw my first roller-ski biathlon yesterday in Switzerland. The first summer ski jumping I saw was just a few years ago. Those sports are making the transition partially in response to climate change. First dodgy conditions meant they needed an alternative to natural snow, and now they can train and compete year round. Reminds me of Cool Runnings and the Jamaican bobsled team.
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kokoda · Heavy Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2006 Posts: 443

Hobo boxing.

Arsenal

Leanan · News Editor Joined: May 20, 2004 Posts: 4575

Awhile back, I read a book on the history of the New York Yankees. It interviewed some of the old players. They remembered riding a train for three days when they had to play St. Louis. They'd play cards all the way. The old-timers said that really helped the team bond. They thought that today's players miss out by just jumping on a team jet for a few hours.

And Negro Leagues used to depend on communities for housing. They couldn't afford hotels or anything, so they'd stay in farmers' barns or people's spare bedrooms.
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"The problems of today will not be solved by the same thinking that produced the problems in the first place." - Albert Einstein

IanC

Professional sports in America makes me want to puke. I can't wait to see the sunset of it's prominance in our "culture". Especially baseball - it's a game, not a sport.
I'm hoping that the money will dry up and the professional sports industry in general wil significantly contract. I don't think it will ever go away.

I agree that we'll need something to distract us and my sincere hope is that watching sports on TV will be supplanted by actually participating in sports at the local park. There was a time 40-50 years ago when there were baseball leagues for all ages, bowling leagues, etc which:
1. got everyone out of the house
2. kept them active
3. engendered community spirit

If getting rid of a bunch of overpayed players and owners in the major leagues brings any amount of that back to our society, it will be well worth the trade!
I see the real contraction happening in amature sports, however. No more traveling soccer clubs for 12 year olds from Portland going to tournaments in Phoenix, LA, and Denver for the weekend. NO more parapalegic rugby teams going to the Olympics in Athens. No more ridiculous, meaningless fricking bowl games for loser league football teams on Thanksgiving.

Such waste. We deserve all we're going to get! At least we'll have a lot of beefed-up jocks to either join the military or use hand tools on the farm.
-IanC

energycity · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 22, 2008 Posts: 126

Wind-up radios are cheap and reliable these days, so broadcast sports can continue almost indefintely.
Professional sport is the opiate of the masses so if any government continues to exist they are almost certain to continue.

cube · Fusion Joined: Mar 12, 2005 Posts: 3796

The future of "professional" sports.

Death Race (2008)

Death Race 2000 (1975)

MrBill · Expert Joined: Sep 15, 2005 Posts: 5650 Location: Eurasia

That's interesting, Cube. Those dark movies that show a bleak future usually come and go with the business cycle and reflect people's mood. Back in the 70s there were a lot of dark movies that took a bleak view of the future. Then the mood improved. Now it seems like we have swung full circle again. In that trailer I saw bits and pieces of Mad Max, Blade Runner, Escape from the Bronx, etc. and not much of Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future! ; - ))

UPDATE: This isn't about talent. It's about technology.

BlinkBlink

efarmer · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 17, 2006 Posts: 508

I agree with the best of the local talent getting direct
community support by providing the community entertainment.
I am not currently a fan of wrestling, but I would like to see
local wrestling under the right conditions. I would like to see
the big guy who always smiles from the produce stand
grab the little jerk from Starbucks and dust his derriere off
so's there isn't any powdered sugar left on it. And then I
would like amateur night so I could get in the ring and get
disqualified for biting the snooty bank clerk on the ankle.

On second thought, maybe amateur baseball or some
team sport might be better for the community and me...

I do think the $30 Million dollar ball player is whistling
past the graveyard. Last team into the franchise before
the decline?

The Cayman Island Reptiles, they will simply appear to
play while unseen forces destroy the other team financially
behind the scenes and ready them for acquisition.