Penny Thoughts: The American Economy and Sport

It is probably more a function of my own predilections, but this time of year it seems as if there are more and more sports and sports-related activities and events, which has given rise to an examination of the reasons for this phenomenon in our Nation.

We all were enthralled with the “Bowl Season” for collegiate football along with its debate over the CFP (College Football Playoffs) which ended in January.  And the next event for college football seems to be the “recruiting wars” which actually began with the “early signing period” in December and culminates in the official signing date in February.

Now we are headed for “March Madness” in collegiate basketball for both men and women.  We will soon see article after article and will hear commentary after commentary on radio and television lending allusions to the “Office Brackets” which develop during this time of year.

Of course, no one actually makes any wagers on these brackets!  They’re just for fun in the workplace.  And if you actually believe that, I have some waterfront property I’d like to show you at low tide!

These two collegiate sports are not the only objects of our attention at this time of year.  We have the professional basketball teams playing what seems to be an endless array of game and game combinations which we can also purchase for our viewing pleasure through our cable-TV or satellite dish carriers.

Major League Baseball will soon begin its annual Spring Training rituals in Florida and Arizona.  It brings the added nuance of the “free agency” trades which make the rest of us wonder how the team owners can pay the exorbitant salaries of these ball players.

And in reference to player salaries, we cannot overlook what coaching salaries are today.  But player salaries became so out of control that a few years ago owners of the various sport leagues decided to create some sort of parity by imposing “salary caps”.

Still, there is so much money in professional sports today that it serves as a very strong indicator not only of what we value as a society, but it also serves as a beacon of the strength of our nation’s general economy.

Could an economy which was struggling with mere existence afford to pay the ticket prices at professional sporting events?  Or major collegiate events?  And just where would we be with million-dollar college football coaches if our economy were sliding to the far side of the moon?  How could they be paid?

Add to the salaries the fact that golfing, not a very inexpensive sport, is enjoying another fantastic year of record-breaking participation at the local level.  It is obvious that Tiger Woods was the major catalyst for this, but where does the funding come from for everyday golfers to have the financial resources or the time to spend as much time as they do “on the links”?

Another strange development is the proliferation of the “X-Sports”, which crashed onto the scene only a decade or so ago.  And the fact is that the majority of these sporting events have emerged from the American economy.

Say what you will, but common sense prevails when an analysis of participation in sports by the general populace is tied to a successful, vibrant economy.

Now, I am not trying to be an apologist for President Donald J. Trump and his economic policies.  The fact that we have so many people participating in so many sporting activities due to a highly successful economy is for me the litmus test for any economy.  And it has been so ever since the end of WWII.

Think about it!  Examine any country which has a struggling economy.  Find out what percentage of the population has enough time or enough money to go golfing as regularly as we Americans.  The same thing is true for tennis.

On our local level, take a look at how many youngsters participate in the great sports programs the Demopolis Park and Recreation Department helps to facilitate.  Would their parents be able to lend the time or the resources if we were struggling along financially as a nation?  I think not.  At the same time, the Park and Rec’s model facilities it maintains tells me more about the success of our local economy than any other, single structure in place today.

Understand that I am all for where we are in America today with our sports and recreation programs.  You will not find me criticizing these worthy activities – in fact, I hail them!  And the main reason I hail them is that they are the positive by-products of a robust economy.

If our economy were so depleted that there were no municipal resources to fund such programs, and if a family’s income was so meager that it could not purchase basic equipment for the children to participate, then sport would not enjoy the position it does in contemporary America.

Hence, I salute sport across this country from the municipal level, to the college level, to the professional level.  Not only does it offer legitimate options for exercise – it also tells the rest of the world that we do have, in fact, a strong, growing, robust economy.