- Watching Fox News about the impact of the economy on sports. They say that players are signing lower salary contracts. WHAT? It may be that the lower-tier players are taking the hit. But big stars like Manny Ramirez and Albert Haynesworth signed for huge money. All those salaries are payed by sports fans in higher ticket prices and food priced. Parking your car at the stadium or arena costs more. The costs for televising games are raised, and people pay higher monthly cable and satellite bills. Just saying.
- CBS says the internet ad revenue for NCAA March Madness could be 30% higher. You know, they're charging to watch March Madness online, but if you have Orb running on your PC at home (and a TV card in your PC), you can watch the games for free wherever you have an internet connection (work, cellphone, etc).
- Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is concerned about the economy's impact to baseball. “I used to think we were recession-proof. I really did,” Selig said during the Angels' 6-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. ... The Angels and Cubs played to a sellout crowd Saturday. However, Cactus League attendance was down 22 percent over the first 11 days this spring, USA Today reported.
- NBA revenues up 2% from last year. Although some individual franchises could be in trouble. The Simon Brothers told the Indianapolis Capital Improvement Board that they no longer could afford to assume the losses of their Pacers franchise and operate the team's home arena. The Simons are seeking relief and could sell or move the franchise with some city layer of government doesn't step in.
- I used to have season tickets to the Sacramento Kings. I gave those up years ago. The costs skyrocketed and they started televising every single game. In addition, with TNT, ESPN, and NBC televising other games, there is plenty of NBA action to watch without spending a ton of money.
- Arena Football is on hiatus this season. But the minor league version is still a go.
