Some good reporting recently on baseball during the Great Depression.

Following is a quote from a piece last month in the Denver Post.

“In 1929, before the market crashed, major-league baseball ticket revenues were $17 million. By 1933, gate receipts had plummeted to $11 million. A big-leaguer made an average of $7,000 in 1929. That dwindled to $4,500 by 1936.”

Commenting on the Denver Post piece, chair of economics at Clemson - Raymond Sauer - wrote on his blog.

“Obviously, the impact of the depression on the finances of a baseball team was severe. They were fortunate to operate under the reserve clause in those years, which limited the duration of player contracts to one year, making adjustment to declining demand much simpler.”

AND

“...In contrast to the monetary figures, baseball attendance held up well during the depression. This is because teams lowered prices in response to declining nominal demand. [Note that the aggregate price level dropped 25% between 1929 and 1933.]. This should not be taken as evidence that sports are “recession-proof” since the financial side of the operations are inextricably tied to the aggregate economy.”....

I see the same pattern this offseason.  Ticket sales are reportedly good but there is a lot of “discounting” going on.  And the FA market indicates that player contracts are getting shorter and the compensation declining.  ( Yanks excepted )

@ The Common Man.  Sports in 3D could be the next “big thing” in pro sports.  It is already happening and the early reviews are very positive.