When I get into a reflective mood and let my thoughts think about sports, the deeper those thoughts go, the more amazed I am about how much sport has changed.

As a reference point, I started my career at the Washington Post newspaper in the 60’s. The Senators still played in the nation’s capital and Vince Lombardi was to become the Redskins head coach. As I started my sports career, not even 20 years old, I still remember one thought I had when I was in the press box at RFK stadium at a Senators game. I know so little about sports, its history, great moments, great players and its tradition, I wonder what I’ll know and the changes I’ll see 20 or 30 years from now. Looking back now, it’s truly amazing what has happened in sports. How it has changed. How sports affect our lives. How big a business it is. How conflicting sports can be for fans. And, how much joy and pain winning and losing can bring to the athlete and fan alike.

If I were to pick the two biggest changes in sports, it would be how much sports has changed business wise, and how much the fan-sports/team/player relationship has changed. And, they’re connected.

The change in the business side of sports was to be expected. Everything in life changes. But, the changes and the degree to which sports has become big business is unfathomable. Franchises originally bought for tens of thousands of dollars are now worth hundreds of millions and occasionally billions of dollars. Once five figured salaries of star players are now nine figured salaries, witnessed by A-Rod’s 250 million dollar deal. Leagues were lucky if they got a million dollars a year for their broadcast rights, now those multi-year rights are worth billions. Even the NCAA basketball tournament television broadcast rights bring college sports several billions dollars. If you were to add up all the money sports generates through salaries, ticket sales, broadcast rights, marketing and advertising, merchandising, agents’ commissions, etc., it would exceed the gross national product of most of the world’s countries. Sports ARE big business, and a very good BIG business.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with sports being a good, big business except that it’s hard to maintain good balance when money is involved. Common sense and morality often goes out the window where money is involved, especially a lot of money, like in sports. The “red letter” day in the sports money explosion came in the 70’s when an arbitrator ruled, in the Andy Messersmith case, that baseball players had the right to sell their talents to the highest bidder at the end of their contract with their current team. That decision spawned an unprecedented movement of players, spiraling salaries, higher ticket prices, escalating broadcast right and billions of dollars in revenue for Major League Baseball. Also, it opened the door for the same thing to happen in other sports. As they say in the rocket business, “We have blast off.”

I believe in free enterprise and letting the market place control business, prices and salaries. If you believe players are entertainers, not just people who are playing a kid’s game and one we all played at one time, then athletes, as entertainers, should be paid as much as the person who’s paying them thinks they’re worth and is willing to pay them. So, paying A-Rod 250 million dollars doesn’t offend my senses, it only makes me wish I had won life’s lottery prize of baseball talent that makes someone willing to pay me that much. Entertainment dollars has been and always will be “fun(ny) money.”

Where all of this big, sports money has gotten out of hand is in the failure of those who generate the money, the players, and those who create the money, the owners, fail to appreciate and understand there has to be a complimentary effort and partnership in maintaining the vitality of their game and business. While history has shown us that labor and management rarely makes good marriage partners, today the business of sports makes the necessity of such a marriage paramount if sports are to flourish as both a business and part of our social fabric in the future. The ability of players and ownership to find a cooperative, economic, power sharing ground will be the determining factor as to whether sports continues to grow, or self implodes and becomes a slowly dying aspect of our lives.

The other part of the great changes in sports is how much the fan-sports/team/player relationship has changed. As I said, the business changes have affected the attitude change. Most human opinions are measured in value, and most of that value is measured in dollars. Years ago, before the media’s focus on sports became intrusive and extensive, the measure of value in sports was effort. There was no fan connection between a player and a team’s result based on money. The connection was on the player or the team’s effort. Now, a 10 million dollar a year player is expected to give you a 10 million dollar a year result. It doesn’t matter that the rest of the team might be only worth a dollar a year, and that in team sports rarely does one player make the difference. With expectation comes frustration. With frustration comes disappointment. And, with disappointment comes anger and disillusionment. That is where we are today in the fan-sports/player/ team relationship.

What will change that fan expectation, frustration, disappointment, and anger and disillusionment mind set? A better understanding that all things go in cycles, including an athlete and team’s performance. An understanding that in almost all cases an athlete’s professional pride is going to make them do the best they can, and that a bad day for them may be because of a good day for another athlete. An understanding, rather then a resentment that an athlete making more money in a year then you’ll ever see in a lifetime is simply luck of the draw. If you had been so lucky then you would have wanted the same consideration. An understanding that sports is BIG business, and it’s never going to change. As a sports business consumer you have the ultimate power in deciding whether to purchase that sports product or not. If you always buy quality, then you’ll never be unsatisfied with your purchase. And finally, remember, the playing of sports is “just a game.” There’s nothing wrong with being sad or unhappy your team or favorite athlete didn’t win or have a good day. But, always remember there will be other games and their effort and desire to do well. Money is the currency of our life, but it never should be the true measuring stick for what makes us happy.

I’ve come a long way since that day in the press box in RFK stadium, but it’s a path that has brought me great happiness, understanding of people, their performances and motivations and many friendships. I don’t always remember who won or loss, but I’ve never forgotten how much fun it has been or how much I’ve learned about people and life. As one old time ball player once said, “Baseball has been very, very good to me.” I can certainly say that about sports.

I’m Ron Barr.

Ron Barr is an Emmy award winning writer and the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated sports talk show, Sports Byline USA

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