Let’s talk the joy of sports.
As a sports editor, I get some weird stuff crossing my desk and computer screen from the world of sports. Some of it is pitches from those with agendas, some is valuable information and announcements, and some of it deals with things I never thought about, coming from sports or marketing people with way too much time on their hands.
I recently got this item: the cost vs. joy index. It came from OLBG (Online Betting Guide) established in the U.K. in 2002, but with a U.S. branch. The study looked into which fans are getting the biggest return on investment for their tickets. OLBG has looked into ticket prices, the number of games and trophies won and the demand for tickets to create an index of cost vs. joy. With MLB ticket prices averaging about $60 a seat (though you can still sit at some ballparks for $10 while most teams have a low-cheap-seat cost of $50, and the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees average $150 a seat), taking your family to a game can be out of reach for many families.
Before we get into the research … what gives us sports joy? For the sports masses, it is easy. Your team wins and your favorite player comes through and you experience sports joy. Or for some, the team you detest loses and the player you root against plays terribly and loses his team the game. To purists, it is a well-played game that goes down to the wire. To the mercenary, you win your bet. To some, it is simply watching a game, or being out in the sun to enjoy a day of sports. Or it might be being in an arena with a crowd of hometown or home-team fans feeding on each other’s energy.
It also might be watching your kid or grandkid play or even try to play, and experiencing/sharing the event with the young athlete. To some, it is a party with friends and/or family with a game or event as the centerpiece and an excuse for getting together, but it is sharing the moment.
What is the opposite of joy is when your team loses; your favorite player whiffs with the bases loaded, grounds into a game-ending double play or grooves a home-run pitch to lose a walk-off. It also may be hot dog and beer prices. The Boston Red Sox charge $8 for a beer and $6 for a dog at Fenway. But the Chicago Cubs take the Wrigley cake at $9.75 a beer and $6.25, a hot dog and the Washington Nationals go even higher at $9.50 a beer and $7.25 for a dog. While the Yankees empty your wallet with parking fees and game tickets that are among the most expensive in the Major Leagues, a beer is only $6 and a hot dog is only $3. If you can afford to get in, at least you can afford to eat. The Dodgers will hit you $6.75 each for a beer and a dog, and the Giants will match the dog, but hit you with a $9 beer bill. The highest beer prices are in New York’s Citi Field, where the Mets hurt you with an $11.75 beer price and $7 for a hot dog. In Baltimore, it’s $10 a beer, and in Philadelphia, the Phillies demand $10 a beer but give the dogs away for $3. Want a cheap beer? The Colorado Rockies sell beer even cheaper than their sodas. Beer is $3, a soda is $4.75 and a hot dog is $5.75. The Miami Marlins will sell you a hot dog for $3, and the Arizona Diamondbacks only want $2 a dog.
OK, the “joy” research shows that the Atlanta Braves rank first with an 8.83/10 Sport Joy score with an average ticket price of $58. The San Francisco Giants came in second at 7.71 /10 if you stay away from the beer, and the Cincinnati Reds finish in fourth (behind NFL’s Dallas Cowboys) for total sports-joy index ranking.
So it looks like this “too-much-time-on-their-hands” survey is all about cost vs. seeing the game and the number of championships a team or city has. Is that REAL sports joy?
Personally, I’d rather be OUT there playing, but if I am watching, a day at the ballpark for $100 per person, or more if I buy team merchandise, is a joyful sports-Disneylandlike day once in a while, and of course it is more joyful if my team wins. But, for the most part, give me a day at the local park watching a kid or grandkid play, or give me my big-screen TV and my own hot dogs and friends, family or even just my dog watching the game with me in the privacy of my home. That’s sports joy.
And I can mute the announcers, skip the commercials, kick off my shoes, see instant replays and yell at the umpires all I want without being asked to leave. Ahhh, sports joy.
What do you think? What give you sports joy? Let me know at mike.blake@mountvernonnews.com.
See you next time.
