The Orwellian Nightmare Of Professional Sports In The Future

Author's Note: The author believes the greatest threat to mass enjoyment of major professional sports is the growing elitism both in sports and society.  The audience for major league sports is becoming more and more limited.  Players' salaries are beyond the beyond.  This subject for obvious reasons is seldom mentioned by sports figures or the media.  The author has previously briefly introduced this subject in his fourth article about the history of NHL expansion in Canada.  He hopes on occasion when the inspiration reaches him to write more articles about this subject.  Below is a vision of what the future of major league sports might be.

Date:   The Future, Sometime, A.D.

It is just before game time, and the teams are about to be introduced.  The first player to be introduced enters to the roar of the fans.  It is difficult to get a precise number of the spectators present because there are no seats in the arena.  Instead the facility consists of 10,000 private boxes, rented at $500,000 a year.  All of them are either rented by multi-national corporations or the city and region's wealthiest residents. 

The arena itself does not have a permanent name.  Rather its name is paid for and rotated among the names of the corporations that own one or more of the boxes in the building.  Tonight, for this game, it will be known as the Xero Centre.

Other ways of raising revenue for the team are quickly displayed.  Laser beams, suspended from above, display corporate logos on the surface of the arena.  Before the national anthem is played, the large four-sided video screen displays an unending string of corporate commercials, all paid for by owners of the private boxes.

Each box has not only the maximum of luxury, but also a closed-circuit area network connection.  When spectators enter the arena they can have their names recorded on the nightly list if they wish.  This list is then made available to every box in the building, so it is possible for every person attending to know who is present that evening.

This is done to promote corporate networking.  For example, if the president of ZoZoo Corporation knows that the president of Behemoth Inc. is here tonight, he can contact him via the circuit, and arrange to meet between periods to conduct a business deal in either one of the bars, a private box, or an intimate cubicle located along the corridors.  Most people say that more meaningful and interesting action occurs there than during the game.

The private boxes stretch far behind the viewing area.  In fact the viewing area is only one quarter of what the owner possesses.  Each box also has a private washroom, an entertainment area like a living room, and a bedroom.  These bedrooms are not only sleeping areas but have known to be the rendezvous spots of bosses and secretaries and are used for other kinds of "bribes and favours" should ordinary negotiations between corporations prove insufficient.

The game is televised but not to just anyone.  It is only shown on a special cable/satellite network that only the elite of the city and region can afford.  For major league sports is now a private monopoly of the rich.

One by one the players enter.  The greatest roar is for Washington Lincoln, the greatest player of the sport in the world.  He makes $300 million a year not including endorsements.  And as one of the game's elite players he has other privileges.  He is a much sought after endorser by the owners here present.  He is a frequent guest in their private boxes after hours.  He is granted free passes to their private golf clubs, their fitness spas and other special clubs.  He is granted opportunities to purchase special corporate stock and bond options.  If he is a member of a team in a country that still has a nobility, he will be eligible for a decoration, a knighthood, and a peerage named after one of the corporate sponsors.

And yet, for all his fame as the world's greatest player, it is possible for Washington Lincoln to walk down a street without being recognized because of his limited audience.  He is only seen by the very wealthy in their private boxes and on their limited television network.  The masses only know of him as a legend without a face.  They have to take the word of their "betters" to know he is the best.

Lincoln himself has little contact with "ordinary people."  In fact he does not know how they struggle or live.  When he goes out, he only travels to and from the best of neighbourhoods in a limousine with darkened windows.  Stuff like charities, promotional appearances, and setting an example are beyond him and his owners.   The most the masses get are sweat towels and other discarded paraphernalia which are auctioned off to the highest bidder.

When the team wins a championship, the masses are informed by the city herald and a public celebration is held.  None of the players have to turn up.  Instead the celebration is used by the corporations to promote their products and associate the team's victory as being symbolic of their own superiority over their competitors.

It does not matter anyway.  The masses can only attend or view minor league sports now.  It is all they can afford.