Here's a prediction: while you may hear many MLB and NBA teams lose money in 2009 and over the next few years, most NFL teams will remain profitable and recession-proof, in spite of selling increasingly more expensive tickets and merchandise.
The reason? The NFL has taken full advantage of one of the most basic economic principles: scarcity. They're mostly withholding one of the most popular entertainment products in America, and all indications are people want more. The MLB gives you 162 games, the NBA gives you 82; the NFL gives you a mere 16. On top of this, the NFL network, now broadcasting several games a year, is largely unavailable to American audiences, as is the NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV. You want more football, but you mostly can't get it.
This demand is clearly borne out in the ratings, and the NFL should remain tremendously profitable as long as it continues to subscribe to this ideology. Whether or not they should sell such highly-priced tickets while accepting huge sums of public financing for their stadiums is another issue, and one I'll deal with in a later post.
The reason? The NFL has taken full advantage of one of the most basic economic principles: scarcity. They're mostly withholding one of the most popular entertainment products in America, and all indications are people want more. The MLB gives you 162 games, the NBA gives you 82; the NFL gives you a mere 16. On top of this, the NFL network, now broadcasting several games a year, is largely unavailable to American audiences, as is the NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV. You want more football, but you mostly can't get it.
This demand is clearly borne out in the ratings, and the NFL should remain tremendously profitable as long as it continues to subscribe to this ideology. Whether or not they should sell such highly-priced tickets while accepting huge sums of public financing for their stadiums is another issue, and one I'll deal with in a later post.
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