The Economy and YOUR Sports Lifestyle

This past summer I went to exactly one Major League Baseball game. The reason: money.

In early April, I drove the 90 miles to Detroit to watch the Detroit Tigers play the Chicago White Sox. On my trip home that evening I decided that for the rest of the summer, if I needed a baseball fix, I would drive the 30 miles to Lansing, MI to watch the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts of the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

This is just a small example of some of the changes that people have made recently to adjust to the changing economy.

While at Comerica Park, I heard people complaining that beer went up fifty cents a glass. Unless your Barney Gumble from the Simpsons or Shane MacGowan (look him up) you won't drink enough for it to hurt your wallet. It's a small price to pay for the opportunity to watch Miguel Cabrerra every night.

When you're driving down Interstate-80 and cross the Pennsylvania border, you're greeted by a sign that reads, "DUI You Can't Afford It." That's exactly how I feel about the NHL. In the not so distant past on any given Friday during hockey season, someone would say, "Lets go down to the Joe, and it was a done deal." Now, it's less expensive to get the Center Ice package for the entire season than it is to make a night of going to a Detroit Red Wings game.

My annual journey to South Bend, Indiana has been put on hold this year, not due to ticket prices, but because of the hotels that charge $175 per night on football weekends for a $65 per night room.

Yes, you can do a one day road trip, but you miss the pep rally on Friday night, and Mass at the Basilica on Sunday morning. It's less tiresome to stay at home and watch on television.

I know some people that in past years would not work on Saturdays in the fall, now they have to get the overtime while they can, and hope their team is playing a late game.

MLB's overall attendance dropped this year (1.1 percent) for the first time in four years, although ten games were lost due to weather, the totals would still have been short of last year.

The Detroit Lions have not been blacked out from television since they moved into Ford Field, but that due in large part to some major company stepping up the Thursday before every home game and buying the remaining 2500-3000 tickets.

My question to you is "Has the economy changed the way you enjoy sports?"