Eric Buckle
Last time I did my blog on a somewhat
obscurely considered component of consumerism regarding pet spending and I
would like to continue that with fan spending. Specifically, the spending of
sports fans on the sports they watch. Much like pet spending, it’s enormously
ubiquitous, as most people are pet owners, so too are most people followers of
sports. Therefore, a lot of people spend money going to the games, buying
memorabilia, and autographs from their favorite players. Essentially, a
professional sports team and even collegiate sports teams, depend upon fans to
show up to pay to see them play and in part, pay for the accessories and
related items.
One often hears the argument that
teachers, firefighters, police officers and the like ought to be paid considerably
more than they currently are. And that professional sports stars making in the
millions (not even considering endorsement deals) in comparison is an affront
to decency and a poor reflection upon our society. However, it is precisely
fans paying to watch games, paying for those athletes’ jerseys and so forth,
that ensure those stars will sign millions of dollars in contract and
endorsement deals.
Let me put this in the proper
perspective. “Spectator sports are unquestionably a big business in the United
States; their revenues approximated $410.6 billion in 2009" (DeSarbo and
Madrigal 1). To further understand how large that is, consider, that’s twice as
large as the auto industry and seven times as large as the movie industry.
Also, according to them, it comes as no surprise that the NFL and college
football lead the pack in terms of “avid fans.” That is, fans that are more
than mere casual watchers of the game – they invest time, money and emotion
into the sport.
I, personally, only consider myself a
“casual” fan. I’ll catch a Reds game from time to time or a Bengals game, but I
am not going to spend $100 on a jersey or have a chance to go to the game
itself. Granted, I don’t see anything wrong with investing time, money or
emotion into the sport. That’s one’s prerogative, but at the same time, if
those same people then turn around and complain about the salaries of teachers,
that seems disingenuous to me. As an avid fan, you and everyone else
likeminded, are contributing to the justification for said million dollar
salaries.
Sure, make the argument that those
service providers ought to make more money, but money on the level of athletes?
It does no compute to me.
Works Cited
DeSarbo, Wayne, and Robert Madrigal.
"Exploring The Demand Aspects Of Sports Consumption And Fan Avidity."
Interfaces 42.2 (2012): 199-212. Sociological Collection. Web. 3
Apr. 2013.
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ReplyDeleteI think you made a pretty interesting point that many people often overlook in terms of consumerism. Sports have become an essential part of American society. Millions of people spend their hard earned money on tickets and merchandise. As you pointed out, this equates to billions of dollars in revenue and I only think it is fair that players are rewarded for their contribution. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for teachers and police officers and other public officials having higher salaries, but I can also understand why athletes get paid the way they do. I think it is important to consider the media’s impact in this discussion as well. Sports networks and advertising agencies put professional athletes on a pedestal. In doing so, we begin to admire them and even consider them heroic figures. If the same was done for teachers and police officers, I think they would receive the same praise and admiration.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joe, but i would go as far to say that as Americans we have always held our athletes to such high standards because in is in our culture to do so. Since I was born in the late 80's I have seen us as a culture celebrate athletic achievements, Arnold Schwarzenegger is famous primarily because of how buff he is. We all saw his movies and we didn't do it to see great acting, because Arnold is cool and all but his acting skills are lack luster at best. In our culture athletic prowess is analogous with success. There is also no way for people to buy in to the police or teachers in a way that could be similar to sports.
ReplyDeleteI think you were spot on with this blog. If the team has the revenue to pay the players, that is their right. What does not make sense to me is when the local government helps support the team or its home field, like Paul Brown Stadium. Although the team is owned and controlled by Mike Brown and part of the NFL, the city of Cincinnati was largely responsible for the construction of the stadium because Brown threatened to relocate the team otherwise. If it is a private business, they should be responsible for their own buildings, maintenance, and payroll.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really like your comparison to other big business industries. It gives good perspective.
That is a fair point you're making, and I've thought about this myself. I'm most certainly not a sports fan, but I can see the attraction others have. You're referring to major league teams. Many players have been training for ages to become what they are. While they may seem less important than, say, law enforcement, there are many more people eligible to work for the police force than could join a professional sports team. And when it comes to spending, consumers will spend their money on whatever is important to them, that can't be changed.
ReplyDeleteI tend to side with Mark on this one. Playing a professional sport is just the same as any other job. To those players, this is there get up everyday and go to work routine. Just because people see them run around on a football field and then cash million dollar checks does not mean their job isn't just that, a job. And professional athletes worked their entire lives to get where they are, and they continue to work just as hard every day to maintain. Moreover, their position comes with an expiration date. Also, on the fan spending, I also agree with Mark. People will spend their money as they see fit and entertainment will always rank high on that list.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the majority of points made in this post and the subsequent comments. While it may seem that professional athletes are paid large sums of money to play simple games, their salaries are mostly determined by the consumers of their respective sports. Football fans for example, are willing to spend a large portion of their income on tickets, memorabilia and clothing items all in an effort to support their team and this in turn equals millions of dollars per year. And as Mark points out, star athletes command higher salaries because they possess such a specific skill set.
ReplyDelete