Struggling Economy Impacts MLB Meetings, Other Pro Leagues

MLB Winter Meetings Mostly Uneventful Aside From Handful Of Deals Like Sabathia's

BRONX BOMBSHELL: In Salt Lake City, Gordon Monson writes of the Yankees agreeing to a seven-year, $161M deal with free agent P CC Sabathia Wednesday, "As accustomed ... as the average blue-collar sports fan has become to the ridiculous salaries paid out to pro athletes, all while ticket prices for a single game have reached three- and four-digits, news of the Sabathia deal in these hard times swung like a hammer into the foreheads of the most desensitized of fans." Monson: "It makes you wonder if or when sports will ever sync up with reality" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 12/12). In Dayton, Hal McCoy wrote, "Leave it to the Yankees to throw it in the face of America's beleaguered work force. While millions lose their jobs in these depressing times, the Yankees hand over $161[M] to one guy. Only in America" (DAYTON DAILY NEWS, 12/11). But ESPN.com's Kevin Blackistone said, "I think people know what’s going on in the economy without looking to the New York Yankees as some sort of barometer” ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 12/11). ESPN's Michael Wilbon: "Whatever the Yankees do has been good for baseball for 85 years" ("PTI," ESPN, 12/11).

MINOR INCONVENIENCE: In N.Y., Michael Schmidt reports at the minor league baseball job fair and trade show in Las Vegas, the topic on "many minds was the floundering economy, which was expected to have a far more pronounced effect on baseball's lower levels than on the major leagues." Many minor league teams are "searching for creative ways to save money but keep fans heading out to ballparks." Many players in the Cardinals' minor-league system will "wear last year's uniforms," and Wilson Sporting Goods Team Uniforms Promotion Manager Mike Gentz said that "many other organizations have come to the same conclusion." Gentz: "From the minor league side, I've talked to 15 to 20 team representatives, and most were going to try to just fill in a few things they need and reuse their old uniforms." Schmidt notes because many minor league teams played their last games in late summer, they had "not yet fully experienced the brunt of the economic downturn." A weak economy is "harder on minor league teams, which have budgets from [$3-10M] and often rely on companies like car dealerships to buy advertising and sponsorships" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/12).

TREADING WATER: AHL President & CEO David Andrews in an e-mail said the league is "down marginally in ticket sales, relative to last season." Andrews: "We believe that corporate revenue and sponsorship will be fairly level. As you know, much of the 2008-2009 sponsorship revenue was generated during the past summer, and we will not know for awhile what the impact may be on marketing budgets going forward, and what impact that will have on sponsorship revenue for 09-10. ... I anticipate a challenging selling season for 09-10 sponsorship packages, but I anticipate that our tickets sales will remain solid in most markets" (ESPN.com, 12/11).

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