I'm in the Money
...ams play in excess of 150 regular season games. If you include the pre and post-seasons, teams could play more than 170 games. The NFL, on the other hand, has a season of 16 regular season weeks with four preseason games and four post-season games. All together football teams are only guaranteed 18 games in contrast to baseball’s 150. Because of the number of games the gross number of fans for the season with be incredibly high also; therefore, the gross income due to ticket sales would exceed that of football’s. But when taking into account the added travel expense, the income difference would be minimal. A more important reason is the length of the games. Baseball is not a game of time, but innings and outs, leaving no time restrictions. In the last hundred years, the average game time has grown drastically, going from ninety minutes in 1904 to 2:47:08 in 2004. Managers like Tony Larussa, who, earlier in the year, used four pitchers in one inning with a five run lead, could be a typical cause for this time change, along with the frequent visits to the mound, pitchers stepping off, batters stepping out to adjust themselves, and mid-inning commercial breaks. Now, football games last around twenty minute longer, but football games are action-packed without many commercials. Baseball games will break for commercials very often leading to much more money from advertising. That money would then be passed on to the players. An even more credible reason is simply that people are willing to pay the admission costs more for baseball than they would for football. Men, women, and children alike get more of a vicarious thrill from watching baseball. Baseball is a game where physique does not matter. Anyone can play the game. In football if you can’t run with the wind, bench press a bulldozer, of squat a bus, you don’t stand a chance. But baseball is a much less demanding sport, physically. Every dad, while playing catch with his son, believes he could stand by second base for the Yankees and throw the ball 90 feet to first. How hard is that? They go to the games and think to themselves, “That could’ve been me.” That’s the attraction of the sport. The laid back atmosphere helps draw in fans as well. In football the action is intense, one play could be the turning factor. Fans mustn’t leave their seats or they might miss the most important play. Baseball is more of a fan-friendly sport. There is usually one good play followed by several minutes of insignificant balls and strikes. Fans are allowed to miss a lot of the game without missing much real action; they can go get a beer or snacks if they want to. And with the average price of a ticket hovering just under twenty dollars, baseball is not very expensive to attend. All these attractions bring in hundreds of thousands of money wielding fans who simply want to relax and have a good time. The main reason for the unbelievable salaries, however, is due to the salary cap or lack thereof. Unlike football, Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap. Due to this rule, teams with a smaller financial base are not able to compete for better players. Whatever team, and city can afford the most can buy better players at a higher price. New York City, for example has the widest fan base in baseball. It’s two te...