The decline of professional sports

[bubbsy]

Video on demand has made watching games unbearable ( 2 minutes of commercial break after 5 mins of game time, or 45 seconds play clocks with commercials at almost every juncture, etc).

Tickets for sporting events is definitely way too high, but living in Toronto, it's clearly a supply and demand thing, as there is always somebody willing to pay.

The players and coaching in most sports has gotten so good that the gameplay itself in most sports is boring. The battle of Alberta used to be a war. The battle of Ontario was nearing the same level. Then somewhere along the way, the fierceness disappeared. Why is that?? Parity was supposed to make teams more competitive to one another, yet for some reason the games themselves seem less interesting than ever.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Season Tickets in Club Seating for the Roughnecks is $424, around $47 a game.


Combine this with the sport itself and there is no better deal, IMO.

Or just buying $20 Safeway seats and sneaking into the lowerbowl seating. But the roughnecks deliver value.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

Video on demand has made watching games unbearable ( 2 minutes of commercial break after 5 mins of game time, or 45 seconds play clocks with commercials at almost every juncture, etc).

Tickets for sporting events is definitely way too high, but living in Toronto, it's clearly a supply and demand thing, as there is always somebody willing to pay.

The players and coaching in most sports has gotten so good that the gameplay itself in most sports is boring. The battle of Alberta used to be a war. The battle of Ontario was nearing the same level. Then somewhere along the way, the fierceness disappeared. Why is that?? Parity was supposed to make teams more competitive to one another, yet for some reason the games themselves seem less interesting than ever.

The speed of the game + no hits from behind or to the head = no hitting.

1. Shifts

They go 30 second shifts at full bore, you are just wasting your energy hitting people for a game in January. You will probably just get hurt yourself over the long haul.

2. Fouls

At the speed the players play at, you can't take the chance of hitting someone and getting it a split second wrong and getting a suspension. Again in January, just lay low and save all your risk and energy for April.

The NHL game is now fast but risk-free and robotic. There is no 'charm' anymore. Not sure charm is the right word but can't think of another.

[Jason14h]

I think virtual reality/augmented reality is the only chance viewing sports has to be saved.

If you could actually see what Crosby was seeing, or be in the hitters box, etc, it would add a whole new dynamic.

[PsYcNeT]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...1989-1.3045870

In 1987 the CBC reported that the average ticket price for a regular game was about $20. In 1995, the most expensive seats in the Dome maxed out at $69. The Flames say 2015 playoff tickets range in price between $85 and $540.

Can you imagine if the average ticket price was $40?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Anyway, for me now to go to games, the only affordable option is in the PL, but who wants to take a family there only to have to suffer people who are drunk by the 2nd period, acting up and swearing, and don't even seem that interested in watching the game at all, and that was virtually every game I attended when I had my own seats in the PL. Attending in person isn't fun - I mean, you have to be lucky to get seats that are in an area that isn't funeral and not bombastic with non-hockey related nonsense.

I find it kind of amusing how pissy Canadian sports fans get about drinking and swearing in the stands. The stuff I've seen Flames fans lose their #### over is something that wouldn't even register in Philly or New York. I remember booing the team as they came off the ice at the end of the first period in a game against the Wild where they just completely mailed it in and some guy a few rows in front of me was basically ready to fight me over it.

[afc wimbledon]

All sport is going to have the same problem, each new generation brought up on video games and worldwide media is not going to have much patience for either lulls in the game or losing seasons and little attachment to their local team, you see this with soccer, you can date soccer fans by their Man U, R Madrid Barca', Man City or Chelsea shirts, they may like the local team but only if they are winning.

How you come up with a sport that is always exciting, every team is a winning team within year or so and the players don't get brain damage is going to be the challenge

[pepper24]

I learned how to swear and cuss from going to Flames and Stamps games as a kid. Loved that.

[Hockey Fan #751]

I think it's confirmation bias more than anything. Professional sports have actually never been more popular than it has in the last five years or so.

Look at the amazing TV deals, sponsorship deals, etc. Every game is televised. Arenas are more full than they've ever been. In the 80s and 90s a lot of NHL first-round series were played to half full arenas. In the 80s and 90s you got maybe 20 games per season televised? 30 if lucky?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Hockey Fan #751

I think it's confirmation bias more than anything. Professional sports have actually never been more popular than it has in the last five years or so.

Look at the amazing TV deals, sponsorship deals, etc. Every game is televised. Arenas are more full than they've ever been. In the 80s and 90s a lot of NHL first-round series were played to half full arenas. In the 80s and 90s you got maybe 20 games per season televised? 30 if lucky?

Comparing pro sports now to pro sports in the 80s isn't really relevant when speaking about a decline though. What's relevant is comparing sports now to where they were 3-5 years ago, and we're seeing signals of a decline in most of them. This could end up just being a blip as the industry adjusts to streaming, etc., but we'll see. Look at the what Rogers offered for the rights to the NHL in Canada and how quickly they got buyer's remorse. The NFL signed it's last TV deal in 2011 for $27B when it was at the peak of its popularity. Do you think they'll get that from the networks in five years when that deal is up? As others have mentioned, social media and streaming services might pick up the slack we'll have to wait and see.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by rubecube;6391233[B

]Comparing pro sports now to pro sports in the 80s isn't really relevant when speaking about a decline though[/B]. What's relevant is comparing sports now to where they were 3-5 years ago, and we're seeing signals of a decline in most of them. This could end up just being a blip as the industry adjusts to streaming, etc., but we'll see. Look at the what Rogers offered for the rights to the NHL in Canada and how quickly they got buyer's remorse. The NFL signed it's last TV deal in 2011 for $27B when it was at the peak of its popularity. Do you think they'll get that from the networks in five years when that deal is up? As others have mentioned, social media and streaming services might pick up the slack we'll have to wait and see.

Yeah, its been anything but. The cash being thrown around is unprecedented.

Like you said however, in some cases theres 'Buyer's Remorse' and maybe in some cases there isnt but in the overall context we're looking at a major shift incoming.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by GGG

Or just buying $20 Safeway seats and sneaking into the lowerbowl seating. But the roughnecks deliver value.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by pepper24

I learned how to swear and cuss from going to Flames and Stamps games as a kid. Loved that.

Glad I could help

[Itse]

I think the gate driven league -thing for NHL is in part a result of there being too many games in a season. When no single game really matters, there's not much reason to tune in for every game. When people don't tune in for every game, it's harder to find people to talk about the games, which gives you even less reason to watch the games. Unless of course you're attending personally, because that's a completely different experience.

The increased parity in the playoffs just adds to this by making the regular season virtually meaningless. Personally, I'm already mostly waiting for the playoffs. The regular season is now just a really long pre-season.

This is a major difference in soccer btw, where the cup and the league are different tournaments from each other. In soccer every game actually matters. Two championships in a year also doesn't hurt to build interest.

[Fuzz]

The solution is to make it like baseball where there are 150 games, then everyone would have a chance to go and they would drop the price to fill seats. Double headers too.

[OMG!WTF!]

I just follow rock climbing now. They can't even get sponsors because no one wants to be paying someone who hits the deck wearing their stuff. Climbing has an abundance of what makes pro sports successful....weird and interesting characters, drama, a very clear success vs failure outcome. And it's pretty much free.

[Hockey Fan #751]

Originally Posted by Itse

I think the gate driven league -thing for NHL is in part a result of there being too many games in a season. When no single game really matters, there's not much reason to tune in for every game. When people don't tune in for every game, it's harder to find people to talk about the games, which gives you even less reason to watch the games. Unless of course you're attending personally, because that's a completely different experience.

The increased parity in the playoffs just adds to this by making the regular season virtually meaningless. Personally, I'm already mostly waiting for the playoffs. The regular season is now just a really long pre-season.

This is a major difference in soccer btw, where the cup and the league are different tournaments from each other. In soccer every game actually matters. Two championships in a year also doesn't hurt to build interest.

Only half the teams in the NHL make the playoffs, though. I think the regular season does matter quite a bit.

In soccer, every game really only matters if you're one of the 3-5 teams in each league that has a chance to win or one of the 3-5 teams which might be relegated. I think league play doesn't really matter for most of the teams in the middle. Cup play does matter, though, of course.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Hockey Fan #751

Only half the teams in the NHL make the playoffs, though. I think the regular season does matter quite a bit.

If you look at expert predictions, there's really only maybe 10 teams where it's seriously in doubt whether they make the playoffs or not. And that's before the season starts. After 20 games the standings don't really change that much, but there's still 62 more games to play.

[RT14]

Originally Posted by Itse

If you look at expert predictions, there's really only maybe 10 teams where it's seriously in doubt whether they make the playoffs or not. And that's before the season starts. After 20 games the standings don't really change that much, but there's still 62 more games to play.

Flames were 8-11-1 after 20 games last year and finished 45-33-4. I'd say their place in the standings changed a fair bit over the next 62 games.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by RT14

Flames were 8-11-1 after 20 games last year and finished 45-33-4. I'd say their place in the standings changed a fair bit over the next 62 games.

One team moving up or down has very little to do with the overall picture.