The state of sports is...complicated.
On the one hand, sports have never been more accessible.
Streaming entities such as MLB TV, NBA League Pass, EPSN+ and NFL Sunday Ticket
give fans access to their favorite sports.
On the other hand, sports can feel inaccessible. Streaming entities
such as MLB.TV, NBA League Pass, EPSN+ and NFL Sunday Ticket don’t give fans access
to their favorite teams.
On the one hand, sports have never been more fun to attend
live. The in-arena games played during stoppages, the scoreboards and even the
food seem to be improving.
On the other hand, live sports have never been so expensive.
According to data from statista.com, the average ticket price for an MLB game
rose 61.8% from 2006 ($22.21) to 2022 ($35.93)[1].
Also according to data from statista.com, the average ticket for an NFL game
rose 71.6% from the 2006 season ($62.38) to the 2021 season ($107.05)[2].
Using data from statista.com[3]
and an article by Josh Kosman and Brian Lewis in the New York Post[4]
this past May, from the 2006-2007 season to the 2021-2022 season, NBA ticket
prices rose from $46.99 to $109, a 132% increase. Using data from statista.com[5]
and The Athletic[6],
we see a rise in average NHL ticket prices from $43.13 in the 2006-2007 season
to $82.58 for the 2021-2022 season, a rise of 91.5%.
Using math, we see the average price for a “Big 4” sports
league game in 2006 was $43.68. In the most recently completed season for each
league, the average rose to $83.64. That is 91.5% increase over that span.
These numbers do not factor in gas, parking, refreshments, or souvenirs. This is
just admission only.
So what needs to be done in 2023 and beyond to make sports
even better? Here are five ways to make sports even better.
Update draft orders to improve competitiveness
I have been on this train for a long time: I hate when teams
throw games for better draft position. My own Miami Dolphins were accused of
trying to lose on purpose[7].
There have been the mantras for players such as “Suck for Luck” to encourage
teams to lose for the first overall pick (such as Andrew Luck in 2012).
Two of the four leagues use lotteries. Both the NBA and the
NHL have lotteries for the draft picks for non-playoff teams and the lottery chances
increase based on record.
MLB and NFL give the first pick in the draft to the team
with the worst record, second pick to the team with the second-worst record,
and so on.
The fix it easy: the non-playoff team with the best record
gets the first pick (or the best odds). For an example, let’s look at the 2022
NFL league standings[8].
The team with the best record, after tie-breakers, that did not make the playoffs
is the Detroit Lions. They would get the first pick in the draft. The
Pittsburgh Steelers would pick 2nd and the Washington Commanders 3rd.
So on and so forth until the Houston Texans pick 17th and the Chicago
Bears pick 18th. You would keep picks 19-32 the same based on
playoff results. If you’re tanking in the playoffs to get the better draft pick,
than you don’t deserve to be a team and any evidence of such should invoke an
immediate regulation-style demotion to a lower league.
This incentives teams to win. The argument against is “well
how do bad teams get better?” That answer is simple: drafting and coaching. The
Patriots built a dynasty around a 6th round quarterback. The 49ers
this past season won seven straight starts by Brock Purdy, the last pick of the
2022 NFL Draft. His only loss as a starter came after injury in the NFC
Championship game. The Los Angeles Rams picked Jared Goff first overall in 2016.
They won the Super Bowl at the end of the 2021-2022 season. They hadn’t drafted
in the first round since Goff, including trading him and first-round picks in
2022 and 2023 to get Matthew Stafford. The draft is an art, not a science. Teams
need to prioritize scouting and coaching. They need to prioritize winning.
Fix officiating
There are a number of ways to clean up bad officiating and I
am far from the first person to discuss any of them. First and foremost, make
officials full-time. MLB umpires are full-time. NHL referees are full-time. The
NBA and NFL are full-time during the season, but each have long periods of time
where they are not employed. There’s no reason to pay for part-time or temporary
referees. Increase the ability for officials in New York or Toronto or in a
booth at the game to signal down to confirm the call. More cameras mean more
camera views. It’s interesting that in some games this season, it seemed like the
NFL had those pylon cams for the first down line-to-gain, and in others, they
did not. Some pylon cams seemed to have one camera, while others had cameras
facing the line-to-gain or goal line as well as one on either side for the
sideline views. There is a similar need for better, clearer cameras on the blue
lines at NHL games. It’s aggravating how many offsides reviews have blurry, meh
camera angles. Again, the leagues, and all of the broadcasting companies paying
millions and billions of dollars to present the games, have the money to ensure
that sidelines, goal lines, blue lines and more are covered by camera angles.
Each team, too, needs to get better staffing to help
determine whether they should or should not challenge. I’ve never played nor
have I ever coached football, but as a lifelong fan, it takes me two seconds
sometimes to see whether or not a play should be challenged. I’m probably
pretty close on offsides calls. I don’t need to be Lebron James to know when Jayson
Tatum fouled him. Yet, as a fan, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to
tell coaches through the television that they’re being stupid for challenging
or for not challenging. If Mike McDaniel could have heard me even just once, he
may have won more than one challenge. While it’s easy to cop out and say “you
have the benefit of the television broadcast” it’s important to remember that leagues
have access to EVERY CAMERA ANGLE at once. There should be better management of
challenges to help bail the referees and umpires out when they make mistakes.
Freeze prices
This seems like the easiest fix to rising prices. Let’s look
at the revenue for each league in their last full season.
NFL (2021) total revenue: $17.19 billion[9].
MLB (2022) total revenue: $10.8 billion[10].
NBA (2021-2022) total revenue: over $10 billion[11].
NHL (2021-2022) total revenue: roughly $5.3 billion[12].
Each league will manage just fine without rising prices for tickets, parking, refreshments and souvenirs. At least for a season, if not several.
Eliminate blackout restrictions for local games
The easiest way for me to discuss this is to look at NESN,
the local channel that broadcasts both Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins games.
For the longest time, you could not stream local games unless you had cable or
satellite with NESN as part of the mix. You could watch if you were out of
market through MLB TV, but not in market. Then, they launched NESN 360. It’s $329.99
for the year. This gives you access to every NESN broadcast of the Bruins and
Red Sox, as well as some coverage of Hockey East, the ACC, and the Worcester
Red Sox (Boston’s Triple A affiliate). Sounds like a good deal, especially
since you can’t watch in-market games on MLB TV. However, this is included with
a cable subscription (I can log in via my Spectrum account). MLB TV has traditionally
been around $129.99 for a season and includes every out-of-market broadcast
minus national broadcasts (such as Fox and ESPN).
This should change with YouTube buying the rights for NFL
Sunday Ticket[13],
but for the last several years, unless you had DirectTV or ATT for your television
provider, or if neither was offered to you at your home, you could not purchase
a direct subscription to the service.
The point is, with so many streaming services, it becomes as
expensive to access all of them as it does for cable. So why not maximize the
services the leagues are offering by allowing in-market games? There has to be
a revenue split that teams can agree to that would suffice. Raise MLB TV to
$159.99 but allow New Englanders to watch Red Sox games.
Sports has never been stronger, and rising revenues prove
that. But if you want to continue to grow the game, some things need to be fix.
It’s getting more and more expensive to be a fan. Not just in person, either;
but watching at home is harder than ever. Especially as prices continue to go
up, issues such as teams tanking and bad officiating diminish the value of
investing.
The four major leagues are strong. They can get stronger.
They just need to fix some issues first.
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/193426/average-ticket-price-in-the-mlb-since-2006/
[2] https://www.statista.com/statistics/193425/average-ticket-price-in-the-nfl-since-2006/
[3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/193430/average-ticket-price-in-the-nba-since-2006/
[4] https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/nba-teams-hike-ticket-prices-as-attendance-drops-internal-docs/
[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/193432/average-ticket-price-in-the-nhl-since-2006/
[6] https://theathletic.com/3200274/2022/03/23/florida-panthers-remain-the-nhls-best-deal-for-fans-but-the-others-may-surprise-you/
[7] https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/34342105/directive-lose-games-2019-miami-dolphins-owner-stephen-ross-never-made-field-assistant-says
[8] https://www.nfl.com/standings/
[9] https://www.statista.com/statistics/193457/total-league-revenue-of-the-nfl-since-2005/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%2032%20teams,of%2017.19%20billion%20U.S.%20dollars.
[10] https://www.forbes.com/sites/maurybrown/2023/01/10/mlb-sets-new-revenue-record-exceeding-108-billion-for-2022/
[11] https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/7/13/23206931/nba-nets-more-than-10-billion-in-revenue
[12] https://theathletic.com/3382650/2022/06/25/nhl-revenues-reach-record-high-thanks-to-jump-in-sponsorship-licensing-deals/
[13] https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-google-nfl-sunday-ticket-youtube-tv-youtube-primetime-channels
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