A few weeks ago, I made the analogy that seeing a sporting event live is just not the same as watching it on TV and I immediately realized that it had been a while since I’d seen any sport live. I’m not alone, however, with attendance to sporting events declining by 40% during the recession.  That’s a lot of un-eaten hot dogs (although, given the inputs to a hot dog, that’s probably a good thing). But therein lies part of the problem – when you factor in ticket prices, exorbitant concession prices and additional auxiliary charges like parking or foam fingers, a sporting event could run you some serious dime.  It’s really a shame because there’s nothing quite like being intoxicated by the energy of an enthusiastic crowd and having a good laugh watching awkward couples kiss and dance for the cameras.

Kiss-cams aside, you’ll likely get plenty of excitement if you start looking at the minor league teams in your area. Sure it won’t be as skilled an affair but minor league players are essentially playing for their professional livelihood so there’s always a sense of urgency in their game. This always seems to overcome a lack of skill. What I also really enjoy about minor league sports is that you don’t need to spend much time lamenting about how much the players are earning. That might sound petty but seeing a guy strike out three times and get paid more than your annual salary to do it can really sting at a time like this.  For the record, Alex Rodriguez makes $37,145.65 per at bat. Nuff Said.

Speaking of baseball, if you happen to be living near the Big Smoke, the Blue Jays are back and are providing a highly entertaining brand of baseball. Going to a Jays game has those expensive concession issues, but you can get tickets for as low as 12.00 and enjoy the day sitting in the sun sipping on your flask. Okay, so I’m not encouraging you to bring a flask because it’s not allowed but for the sake of painting a vision, let’s roll with that.  Addressing a more national audience, the CFL will be back soon and from what I found, it’s a good and cheap time.  As I write this, it’s dawned on me that it would be really helpful is someone created a site that aggregated cheap sporting events (any takers?).

If spending money is entirely out of the question, the next best option is to do it yourself. There’ s nothing more free and probably gratifying than throwing the Frisbee or ball around with your friends at the park or making new friends by checking out sport networking sites like Sportaholik. With gym memberships on the decline, you’ll be surprised to find that many people are hungry for free opportunities to be active and social at the same time.

Speaking of hungry, I’m getting there but this toonie in my pocket isn’t going to get me very far….or will it? I think I have my idea for next week, see you all then.

 

Makes Cents (8)

This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Living, Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: Budgeting, Money, Recession, Recessionista, Savings, Screw You Recession, Sports