make a profit. This usually doesn't work and what ends up happening is that the team becomes that much worse. This is a serious problem facing all sports, but it is most evident in baseball. Last year only two teams spent less than $48 million and had a winning record and of the 13 teams that spent over $48 million only one of them had a losing record (Ringolsby 3). Another study was done at the end of last years baseball season and it showed that the top 20 percent of major league teams ranked by payroll won an average of 93.7 games, while the bottom 20 percent only averaged 68.1 wins (Suttell T).Another major economic problem facing the sports industry is the attendance at games. Attendance in all four major sports has gone down over the past few years (Ringolsby 3). There are many reasons for this. One reason is that there is more sports programming available on free or cable television than ever before. If someone can sit in their own house and watch a game for free, then why should they go through the hassle of getting to the stadium and paying big dollars for tickets? This brings up the next problem; ticket prices are too high. Ticket prices seem to go up every year for all of the major sports. A study of the four major sports showed that the cost of a family of four to attend a game are MLB $114.82, NBA $214.28, NHL $238.97, and NFL $243.34. Another report by the Sports Marketing Group showed that nine out of ten Americans say ticket prices are so high that it is difficult for them to attend a professional sporting event (Burton 37). An example of how these problems effect certain teams is the Minnesota Twins. The Twins payroll for this year is only around $18 million (La Velle 6), so it is almost impossible for them to compete with teams like the New York Yankees who's payroll for this year is around $75 million (La Velle 6). As a result of this, the Twins attendance will go way down and they will loose money and ...
