1972, 1981 and most devastatingly, 1994-95 – years in which baseball players went on strike against Major League Baseball. There have actually been eight such work-stoppages in Major League history, but the destruction of the 94-95 season was decimating to stadium attendance. The cancellation of the 1994 World Series was the first such occurrence since 1904 and brought the MLB to a dubious record: the first U.S. professional sport to lose its entire post-season to a labor dispute; 931 out of a total 948 games were lost.
Player pay and a salary cap were the issue, and fans were left with a bad taste in their mouths over seemingly absurd levels of compensation. Wikipedia summarizes the post-strike reality: “On the first days of the 1995 season, the fans showed that they were angry and declared the strike as an act of war. Attendance at the games plummeted, as did television ratings, like during the last significant players strike. However, fans w ho showed up demonstrated their anger and frustration. The meager crowds at the openers often booed at the players for their rusty fundamentals, shoddy defense, and in response to frequent high-scoring contests. The strike was seen as the worst work stoppage in sports history and it left the game, the fans, and the sports world shaken, angry, outraged, sickened, and frightened to their core.”
Enter the great recession of 2007 and following (despite economists’ claims to the contrary, I see no end in sight for this exceptionally harsh economic meltdown). It seems that baseball – and a whole host of professional sports – are seeing a really significant contraction in attendance, even as the post-season is about to commence. “With first place on the line, the Tampa Bay Rays averaged 28,400 fans, or 79 percent of capacity, for their three home games against the Yankees last week, and filled just a third of their seats on Monday night… Nearing their first division title in 15 years, the Reds drew 12,000 fans to a recent night game, their smallest crowd of the year. The Braves have had trouble filling even half their seats this month despite battling for a playoff spot…
“Attendance across Major League Baseball is down about a third of 1 percent this year after falling in 2008 and 2009. Declines have been most noticeable in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, where the Mets, the Cubs and the Dodgers have had disappointing seasons, but also in Baltimore, Cleveland and Toronto, where attendance has slipped for several years.” New York Times, September 28th.
Is it a big surprise that America’s game is seeing such a fall of numbers? Big screens at home, portable viewing on some subscribers’ cell phones , and school’s back in session… mixed with a truly horrific economy… seem to have taken their toll across the board. “Baseball is not the only sport trying to regain its footing. The N.B.A. and the N.H.L. had attendance slip last season during the depths of the recession. In the N.F.L. this season, the Jets and the Giants failed to sell out their season openers in their new $1.6 billion stadium. A growing number of games have been blacked out on television the past two years because teams in Jacksonville, Oakland, Tampa and elsewhere have failed to sell out their home games, a rarity a few years ago… Those teams have performed poorly on the field, and it hasn’t helped that 17 N.F.L. teams raised tickets prices this season either.” The Times.
The signs of the times are that Americans are truly altering their lifestyle patterns and underlying core activities to accommodate a harsh economic reality. Is this just a short-term trend that will rectify as the numbers get better, or is it a sign that Americans have truly accepted a going-forward and perhaps permanent downsizing of their standard of living. Anyone got a McMansion for sale?
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