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Will COVID-19 be the needle that finally bursts the sports bubble?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by BitterYoungMatador2, Apr 2, 2020.

Page 91 of 250
  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    You are talking about profits, not profit margins, which are a percentage of gross profits to revenues.

    I am not saying this as a defense of the team owners, but I know they look at the world differently than you are.

    And they are not entirely wrong.

    Assuming most of them can't make this coming season pay for itself (and I have no idea if that is true or not), what they earned last year or what their franchise values are, has nothing to do with it for them. You're really suggesting that they should subsidize the cost of a season out of their own pockets. And maybe they should, not just as an act of charity to fans, but because it could be a good longer-term business decision that will pay itself back later. Regardless, their willingness to do that may vary.

    If you are saying that the Nats earned $27 mil last year (I have no idea if that is true), that was their income last year. Just like the salary you earned last year was your income last year. I get that we're talking about billionaires who can afford to eat $5 or $10 or $20 0r $30 or $40 million so there is a baseball season, so I am not trying to compare them to working stiffs who don't have the kind of wealth they do. But if you earned $100K last year, you wouldn't see it as having anything to do with the salary you're not earning this year when you are furloughed or laid off, would you? If you think of it that way, you are more in line with how they see it.

    Similarly, their franchise values are pretty meaningless for the conversation, because the franchise only has value on the day they sell it and cash the check. Otherwise at best, it's collateral they can use to borrow money to subsidize a baseball season if they can't make it work financially. But they still are going to have to pay that loan back.
     
    Last edited: May 29, 2020
    The Big Ragu, May 29, 2020
    #1081
    Batman likes this.
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Just to elaborate on that last post, because I don't think I was being clear enough.

    Again, this isn't about what I think or wish they would do, it's about how they are seeing it as opposed to how you are.

    If you are correct about the Nats having earned $27 million for the Lerner family last year, from where they sit, their players earned 7 or 8 times that. So why aren't you suggesting that the players subsidize the baseball season?

    Max Scherzer or Stephen Strasburg each earned more than they did.

    A lot of people are sitting here saying things like what you said, "Those rich bastard owners. They can afford it. Look at how much they earned in 2019."

    From their perspective, they don't see anyone saying, "Stephen Strasburg earned $38 million last year, so he can afford to subsidize this season."
     
    The Big Ragu, May 29, 2020
    #1082
  3. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    If the other sports restart in the summer, then running the truncated baseball season at a loss would be a worthwhile long-term business move if only to keep the product on TV to not let the NBA and NHL have TV to themselves in the late summer. But I remain skeptical those sports will restart. The NBA at least has a plan. The NHL's plan is pretty sketchy. If those leagues just cancel, then baseball might as well, too. By the time a compromise is reached between the owners and the union, it'll probably already be closer to Labor Day than July 4.
     
    Michael_ Gee, May 29, 2020
    #1083
  4. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

    Neutral Corner, May 29, 2020
    #1084
    expendable likes this.
  5. Della9250

    Della9250 Well-Known Member

    SYDNEY (AP) — A sports broadcaster has apologized for using an image of Adolf Hitler while showing highlights of a National Rugby League game on Sunday.

    Fox Sports Australia issued an apology, saying it was concerned about a digitally manipulated image shown during the Sunday Night with Matty Johns program.

    A superimposed black-and-white image of Hitler was shown during a segment that focused on the cardboard cutouts that are being used on some seats in stadiums. No spectators are allowed to attend NRL matches during the coronavirus pandemic. There was no image of Hitler at the stadium during the game.

    The apologies followed public complaints, including criticism posted on Twitter from Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin about the “casualization of Hitler, Nazis, and by extension their crimes.”
     
    Della9250, Jun 1, 2020
    #1085
  6. I Should Coco

    I Should Coco Well-Known Member

    The first "high school" sports of sorts happened in my neck of the woods on Sunday, as the local American Legion team hosted a doubleheader:

    Local baseball is back: Coeur d’Alene Lumbermen finally open season — with help from Northwest Premier, Spokane Crew

    The main difference was the umpires ... a two-man crew, one was behind the mound calling balls and strikes. The ump behind the plate was back toward the backstop, behind an L-screen, then would come out if the ball was put into play and do the usual plate-umpire duties.
     
    I Should Coco, Jun 1, 2020
    #1086
  7. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

     
    Neutral Corner, Jun 2, 2020
    #1087
  8. tapintoamerica

    tapintoamerica Well-Known Member

    If there is ever a league that needs to do this, it's Conference USA.
     
    tapintoamerica, Jun 2, 2020
    #1088
  9. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I will miss seeing the ninth best basketball team in the C-USA postseason tournament!
    - no one, ever
     
    poindexter, Jun 2, 2020
    #1089
  10. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    FTFY
     
    micropolitan guy, Jun 2, 2020
    #1090
  11. Hermes

    Hermes Well-Known Member

    Spencer Hall took the Vox buyout.

    If you let Spencer Hall walk, you no longer cover college football and you have no idea what you’re doing as a company.
     
    Hermes, Jun 2, 2020
    #1091
    Cosmo and Inky_Wretch like this.
  12. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    It is a company deciding it really doesn't want to cover sports anymore. Which is an OK business decision. I shall be sorry not to read Spencer, but I assume he'll emerge SOMEWHERE before the college season kicks off if indeed it does.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Jun 2, 2020
    #1092
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