It seems nonsensical to believe that professional sports would be immune to the financial calamity that's crushing the rest of the world's economy. How could any business that depends on revenue from consumers and corporations be invulnerable to a recession?
Still, it's hard to imagine sports suffering in the same ways that more conventional industries are. The Detroit Tigers aren't going to lay off all their shortstops and head to Washington begging for a bailout. Sunday afternoons in the fall won't stop featuring National Football League games and beer commercials on TV. Superstar athletes seem likely to draw supersized salaries no matter how stressed the global credit markets are.
Wharton marketing professor Eric Bradlow, however, already sees the impact that the economy is having on sports. Consider the Yankees, he says, and their decision not to offer arbitration to Bobby Abreu and other players. "The bottom line [is that] revenue is going to be down. Advertising revenue is down. Corporate boxes and corporate sponsorships are going to be down. There's no question the [financial crisis] is going to affect the economics of the sports industry........."