The average ticket price to watch the New York Giants football team is $332.82. Let’s take a moment to process that lovely piece of information. It has been brought to my attention that there is no end in sight to these escalating ticket prices, and now professional athletic events have become sporting entertainment for the socially elite. The buck doesn’t quite stop there either. After scavenging up your life savings for a chance to finally see your favorite team play, you also have to fork over both your kidneys and a lung just for one eight-ounce bottle of water and a 100-calorie bag of Cracker-Jacks. As if that weren’t enough, it seems like everybody sitting around you in the nosebleed section, is ALWAYS taller than you. How does that happen?
It’s obvious at this point that the people behind this price-gouging swindle are definitely reeling in a profit, but recently it seems like every time I watch ESPN, there’s a new lockout or a millionaire-playboy athlete complaining about not making enough money. I would actually PAY the NFL to let me play! If Jerry Jones doesn’t want to pay his players extra because he doesn’t think they deserve it, then good. A few thousand dollars out of their pockets won’t put them on the streets, but when teams have down seasons, why do ticket prices still go up? I don’t care if the Cowboys Stadium is a man-made wonder of the world. If they can’t win a game with a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, I’m not going to drop a $100 dollars to surround myself with a bunch of crying Romosexuals and spend the rest of my day fighting Dallas traffic. I can be just as upset watching them lose in the comfort of my studio apartment.
Let’s do a little math here. MetLife Stadium, host to the New York Jets and Giants, seats 82,566 fans, with an average ticket price of $332.82. That means that with every sold-out home game, the Giants pocket roughly $27.5 million. That’s not even including concessions. They play eight home games a year, generating approximately $220 million in a season, and they’re complaining about not having enough to pay their players?
Now don’t get me wrong, I do not endorse the player’s point of view by any extent either. They all make more than enough to live off of, and with so many millionaire athletes in the world; you’d think you’d see a few more philanthropists out there as well.
Here is where I take issue with the owners: the players are the epicenter of the sports marketing world, without them, the owners are worthless, and there are no sporting events period. That being said, an athlete’s pay should never be docked without just cause. And if the owners revoke an athlete’s salary because they claim they’re “not making enough profit,” then by all means, get Brady, Brees, and Manning to file a lawsuit. I would, too.
Lust for money is the root of all evil, and unfortunately, it has become the gravitational object around which all professional sports orbit today.
Shout out to Jessie J for her song “Price-Tag”, which inspired me to write this column. No sarcasm at all.
