Really hoping you're wrong about Harris getting the arena in Center City. It's not only not needed, it will be actively detrimental to Philly. The only reason Harris wants it is to increase the value of the Sixers for when he sells his shares and makes even MORE money. It's an absolute joke.
Fully agree, Will. These owners view sports franchises as business assets. They never consider people's history and personal connection with the teams. I'll pop champagne when Harris is gone, but he'll likely only be replaced with someone equally morally bankrupt
As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, the excitement of actually going to a game has been significantly diluted by technology along with the accompanying sense of community that you reference. I remember well the sense of awe at seeing the colors (the yellow green goalposts and green field in particular) upon entering Cleveland Municipal Stadium along with armies of Browns fans for the first time in the fall of 1972. Today, that experience would be significantly lessened, along with the sense of wonder.
Televisions were originally poor black and white pictures that made going to the game a vastly superior - arguably essential - experience. Even color TVs and the cameras used at games produced a grainy picture until the last 15 years or so as huge screens and high definition pictures made their way into our living rooms. You see that firsthand when relatively recent games from the past are rebroadcast on the NFL network. It's not nearly as clear.
Not long ago, people would note what events they had attended in person as a badge of honor ("dude, I was actually in the end zone for that catch!")...recognition of how superior it was to viewing it on TV. You rarely hear that any longer. Even the in-person experience isn't the same. Modern ticket buying applications mean that visiting team fans now routinely fill seats in your stadium. For many fans, the term "home game" has an entirely new meaning and experience.
Today, televised games have far more information and added entertainment value than attending games in person. In addition to hearing what the Mannings think about things, the NFL and Amazon Web Services want to deliver more real time game analytics to viewers. Modern stadiums now prioritize Wi-Fi so their fans can simultaneously watch the game on their phones.
This trend has been happening for a while now. When the Cowboys opened their new stadium, there was a famous picture of a key end zone catch where every fan in the shot was watching the play on the giant video display over the field instead of the live play in front of them. New stadiums now are desired more today more for what they deliver to viewers at home (e.g. better camera angles, wider crowd shots. better media connectivity, closer lavish suites for in-game celebrity isolation shots etc.) than what they provide for the paying customers in the seats. Facilities are now viewed as more important for free agent signing than for local fans.
Beyond fans now perceiving the watching of the game at home as constituting the best seat in the house (the NFL's recent antitrust case is a terrific example of how the public - and juries - see viewing the NFL experience today), modern viewing decisions have profoundly changed the economics of the game. Today, owners make relatively little money from ticket sales as media distribution contracts and higher TV and streaming ratings now account for a huge percentage of their revenues. Consider that Dan Snyder, former owner of the Commanders, sold his team for $1 billion more than the expected price despite a decrepit stadium that was at best half-filled on game days. His roughly $500 million in annual media revenue share is what drove the price.
The reality is that modern sports today is a remote and individualized viewing product and not an in-person product any longer. Going to games is viewed by many as sub optimal versus watching on a screen. It's a part of why citizens no longer want to pay for stadiums, because they assume they can still see the games in a better way. Why have your tax bill go up when you can just buy the Sunday Ticket for less. That leaves cities without teams or with only one professional franchise as willing to pay for a new facility e.g. see Kansas City versus Jacksonville.
Owners are not the villains here in my view. They are agnostic followers of money - wherever it might be. If tickets mattered more to their bottom line, they would invest and emphasize that and those customers. The real culprit here is technology. Technology has provided us with so much, yet in recent years it appears to be increasingly isolating us. This is not just true with sports - but with everything in life. As it isolates us behind our locked doors, there is a loss of community, of camaraderie and unity. A loss of purpose. Those bonds are crucial to our society and our humanity...and like a habitat that is being drained or bulldozed or cut down, our communal habitats are vanishing too.
Years ago, author Robert Putnam warned of this future in his book "Bowling Alone" - where he described the diminution of American community life through the proxy of vanishing bowling leagues across the US.
Today we are not bowling at all...and are now watching sports alone in our basements. The costs are real, addressing them is unfortunately much harder.
I think you're missing the mark a little, if only that, at least toy knowledge the NBA, MLB and WNBA have all had, or are having, their best seasons in years regarding attendance. And go to a game at least in Philly or Baltimore (there 2 wknds ago) and you're in a church, worshipping the baseball Gods at the altar of fandom and having a blessed time. Sure, some technology is increasingly isolating and pretty terrible - social media being #1 off the top of my head - but sports in person, like life music on person, like theater in person (or even going to the movies) is still a really great experience!
Good work as always Quinn! I'm not an expert or anything but it seems like another major reason an owner might decide to move is to access a market where they can charge more for tickets, merch, experiences, etc. See the Warriors moving from Oakland to SF, Raiders moving from Oakland to Vegas, A's moving from Oakland to Vegas. The Oakland fans got blamed for all those moves but really it's always about the money.
Fully agreed my friend. They stir up these stories about cities and areas being dangerous or un-passionate about sports or WHATEVER it may be so they can jet off to areas where the 100 level of their stadiums are filled up with people wearing suits who are only there to network. Sad!
This article reminds me of a chapter I read in Soccernomics a while ago. The crux of the chapter was explaining why city residents were souring on building sports facilities, with the main takeaway being that sports stadiums do not generate new revenue from the perspective of a city government. They merely move revenue from wherever else it could've been that day into the stadium district.
However, one thing sports stadiums do bring to a community is happiness. This has been scientifically proven across several different cities, and it's also obvious anecdotally. Having a local team is better than not having one for the community it's in, not in terms of money (where it's a wash if not a slight loss for the locals), but in terms of happiness.
Putting a monetary value on happiness is really hard, but there are monetary benefits to having happier people around. Therefore, an optimal amount of money for a city to contribute to a stadium project is not $0. It's obviously far below full or even half price, but not zero as some insist on claiming, and this post explains why.
Sports are about human connections. That's actually the whole point. That's why sports that are widely played (both footballs, baseball, basketball, etc.) are much more popular than sports that people in general haven't played (ice hockey, tennis, auto racing, etc.). People want to see great athletes playing the sports that they've played, preferably with a community of fellow humans who want the same thing. In the modern world of fantasy sports and games being viewed as highlight reels, the 'common goal' aspect of sports has been diminished, but the fundamental connection hasn't, and never will, even if owners try really hard to kill it.
Really hoping you're wrong about Harris getting the arena in Center City. It's not only not needed, it will be actively detrimental to Philly. The only reason Harris wants it is to increase the value of the Sixers for when he sells his shares and makes even MORE money. It's an absolute joke.
Fully agree, Will. These owners view sports franchises as business assets. They never consider people's history and personal connection with the teams. I'll pop champagne when Harris is gone, but he'll likely only be replaced with someone equally morally bankrupt
As a child growing up in the 60s and 70s, the excitement of actually going to a game has been significantly diluted by technology along with the accompanying sense of community that you reference. I remember well the sense of awe at seeing the colors (the yellow green goalposts and green field in particular) upon entering Cleveland Municipal Stadium along with armies of Browns fans for the first time in the fall of 1972. Today, that experience would be significantly lessened, along with the sense of wonder.
Televisions were originally poor black and white pictures that made going to the game a vastly superior - arguably essential - experience. Even color TVs and the cameras used at games produced a grainy picture until the last 15 years or so as huge screens and high definition pictures made their way into our living rooms. You see that firsthand when relatively recent games from the past are rebroadcast on the NFL network. It's not nearly as clear.
Not long ago, people would note what events they had attended in person as a badge of honor ("dude, I was actually in the end zone for that catch!")...recognition of how superior it was to viewing it on TV. You rarely hear that any longer. Even the in-person experience isn't the same. Modern ticket buying applications mean that visiting team fans now routinely fill seats in your stadium. For many fans, the term "home game" has an entirely new meaning and experience.
Today, televised games have far more information and added entertainment value than attending games in person. In addition to hearing what the Mannings think about things, the NFL and Amazon Web Services want to deliver more real time game analytics to viewers. Modern stadiums now prioritize Wi-Fi so their fans can simultaneously watch the game on their phones.
This trend has been happening for a while now. When the Cowboys opened their new stadium, there was a famous picture of a key end zone catch where every fan in the shot was watching the play on the giant video display over the field instead of the live play in front of them. New stadiums now are desired more today more for what they deliver to viewers at home (e.g. better camera angles, wider crowd shots. better media connectivity, closer lavish suites for in-game celebrity isolation shots etc.) than what they provide for the paying customers in the seats. Facilities are now viewed as more important for free agent signing than for local fans.
Beyond fans now perceiving the watching of the game at home as constituting the best seat in the house (the NFL's recent antitrust case is a terrific example of how the public - and juries - see viewing the NFL experience today), modern viewing decisions have profoundly changed the economics of the game. Today, owners make relatively little money from ticket sales as media distribution contracts and higher TV and streaming ratings now account for a huge percentage of their revenues. Consider that Dan Snyder, former owner of the Commanders, sold his team for $1 billion more than the expected price despite a decrepit stadium that was at best half-filled on game days. His roughly $500 million in annual media revenue share is what drove the price.
The reality is that modern sports today is a remote and individualized viewing product and not an in-person product any longer. Going to games is viewed by many as sub optimal versus watching on a screen. It's a part of why citizens no longer want to pay for stadiums, because they assume they can still see the games in a better way. Why have your tax bill go up when you can just buy the Sunday Ticket for less. That leaves cities without teams or with only one professional franchise as willing to pay for a new facility e.g. see Kansas City versus Jacksonville.
Owners are not the villains here in my view. They are agnostic followers of money - wherever it might be. If tickets mattered more to their bottom line, they would invest and emphasize that and those customers. The real culprit here is technology. Technology has provided us with so much, yet in recent years it appears to be increasingly isolating us. This is not just true with sports - but with everything in life. As it isolates us behind our locked doors, there is a loss of community, of camaraderie and unity. A loss of purpose. Those bonds are crucial to our society and our humanity...and like a habitat that is being drained or bulldozed or cut down, our communal habitats are vanishing too.
Years ago, author Robert Putnam warned of this future in his book "Bowling Alone" - where he described the diminution of American community life through the proxy of vanishing bowling leagues across the US.
Today we are not bowling at all...and are now watching sports alone in our basements. The costs are real, addressing them is unfortunately much harder.
I think you're missing the mark a little, if only that, at least toy knowledge the NBA, MLB and WNBA have all had, or are having, their best seasons in years regarding attendance. And go to a game at least in Philly or Baltimore (there 2 wknds ago) and you're in a church, worshipping the baseball Gods at the altar of fandom and having a blessed time. Sure, some technology is increasingly isolating and pretty terrible - social media being #1 off the top of my head - but sports in person, like life music on person, like theater in person (or even going to the movies) is still a really great experience!
Good work as always Quinn! I'm not an expert or anything but it seems like another major reason an owner might decide to move is to access a market where they can charge more for tickets, merch, experiences, etc. See the Warriors moving from Oakland to SF, Raiders moving from Oakland to Vegas, A's moving from Oakland to Vegas. The Oakland fans got blamed for all those moves but really it's always about the money.
Fully agreed my friend. They stir up these stories about cities and areas being dangerous or un-passionate about sports or WHATEVER it may be so they can jet off to areas where the 100 level of their stadiums are filled up with people wearing suits who are only there to network. Sad!
I think the political stuff in here is pretty dumb, not least because Joe Biden will probably not win reelection!
This article reminds me of a chapter I read in Soccernomics a while ago. The crux of the chapter was explaining why city residents were souring on building sports facilities, with the main takeaway being that sports stadiums do not generate new revenue from the perspective of a city government. They merely move revenue from wherever else it could've been that day into the stadium district.
However, one thing sports stadiums do bring to a community is happiness. This has been scientifically proven across several different cities, and it's also obvious anecdotally. Having a local team is better than not having one for the community it's in, not in terms of money (where it's a wash if not a slight loss for the locals), but in terms of happiness.
Putting a monetary value on happiness is really hard, but there are monetary benefits to having happier people around. Therefore, an optimal amount of money for a city to contribute to a stadium project is not $0. It's obviously far below full or even half price, but not zero as some insist on claiming, and this post explains why.
Sports are about human connections. That's actually the whole point. That's why sports that are widely played (both footballs, baseball, basketball, etc.) are much more popular than sports that people in general haven't played (ice hockey, tennis, auto racing, etc.). People want to see great athletes playing the sports that they've played, preferably with a community of fellow humans who want the same thing. In the modern world of fantasy sports and games being viewed as highlight reels, the 'common goal' aspect of sports has been diminished, but the fundamental connection hasn't, and never will, even if owners try really hard to kill it.