Cheap seats for the 1934 World Series
Are you watching the World Series? We don't follow baseball much during the regular season, but look forward to the World Series each October, brought to us free on antenna TV through the beneficence of our FOX affiliate station KCPQ.
That might be changing. The giant company 20th Century Fox, Inc. is trying to purchase local affiliate stations as part of their strategy to own TV stations in cities where there is a NFL team, in this case the Seattle Seahawks. FOX has broadcast rights to the NFL and they can make more money by owning the local stations stations outright rather than contracting with them.
But according to insiders, the local negotiations haven't gone well and Fox said they will terminate the affiliation
agreement for KCPQ-TV Seattle next January. There is also talk of a station "swap" in another city, instead of a sale. So the days of watching free, high-definition sports might be coming to an end.
Navin Field Detroit
Professional sports franchises haul in an estimated $23.5 billion in revenue a year. Big business. As John says, it's all about "supply and demand." Ticket prices for the 2014 World Series start at about $800. Back in 1934, a bleacher seat to the World Series would set you back $1.10-- a
comparable value of $19.42 today, according to an inflation calculator. The average weekly salary in 1934 was about $100 (if you were lucky enough to
have a professional job.)
As far as we're concerned, the best seat to the World Series is in front of the TV with a cup of tea and dish of ice cream after a good dinner.
