Setbacks in Minor League Sports

Professional sports leagues have become accustomed to good news. Oh, there are the occasional black eyes - players in trouble with the law, renegade owners, labor disputes - but the pro realm hasn't had a truly life-or-death struggle on its hands in a number of years. Even in an age of upwardly spiraling ticket prices, most of the established leagues remain exceptionally healthy, no matter what accounting firms hired by the owners say.

205And yet, it just takes a couple of high-profile struggles to put the whole of pro sports into a new light. This does not mean the XFL, which was only a high-profile failure because of its association with NBC. No, there are plenty of indications that pro sports has reached an unsettling turning point. The NBA just finished a season in which attendance and TV ratings dropped in the face of staggering increases in ticket prices and uninspired play. The NHL has failed to capitalize on the popularity of ice and in-line skating nationwide, with ratings and attendance stagnant and most of its remaining Canadian franchises in real financial hardship because of the weakness of the Canadian dollar. Major League Soccer says it has lost $250 million in its five-year history, and continues to have trouble breaking through to a wide audience. And Major League Baseball, at a moment when its attendance is at an all-time high, insists that the cure to its competitive imbalance (if this actually exists) is to shut down several franchises.

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