nkees organization. Two years ago the Yankees singed a ten year 93 million dollar contract with Adidas. Adidas supplies the team with things like cleats and T-shirts, so not only do the Yankees make a lot of money, Adidas will too because people will see the Yankees players wearing Adidas and they will want to go out and buy their products (Noteworthy 8). The Yankees also make a large amount of money from merchandise. Last year alone they made over $20 million from sales of Yankee merchandise (Burton 37), but one of the biggest ways the Yankees make money is through television deals. In 1988, the Yankees signed a 12 year $486 million dollar television deal with Cable System Corporation. That's equal to $40.5 million in television revenue each year. This deal expires in the year 2000, and many people feel that then next Yankees television deal will bring in over $50 million a year (Burton 37). As these numbers show, sport can be a very profitable industry. It is profitable for sponsors, merchandisers, and television broadcasters and for professional teams. Even though there are a few unlucky teams like the Twins, who don't make much of a profit or in some cases any profit at all, most professional sports teams enjoy economic success. Many teams may not be as successful as the Yankees organization, but most teams make enough to cover their expenses plus some extra to keep everyone happy.For many years, television (TV) has been the primary way that sports fans can gather information about their favorite sports. From football to bowling, every sport is on television. These television stations that put these games and matches on TV strive off ratings. These Neilsen ratings tell how popular the program is and how many people are watching it. In the past few years, there has been a downward trend in these TV ratings. Could professional sport be in trouble due to this downward trend? There are many reasons that attribute to thi...
