Crisis effects on consumerism...

So this morning as I was flipping through the Wall Street Journal one partucular article cought my attention. The headline reads "Luxury Strikes Out", and is more or less about the effects of our ecomony on our desisions as consumers to buy more luxurious or expensive items. It specifically refers to maybe the three bigest names in pro sports opening up three of the most expensive stadiums ever biult. The Yankees, New York Mets, and the Dallas Cowboys. A combined cost of over $3.5 billion went into the construction of these monumental structures in hopes that the pay off would be more than worth the effort. At the time of construction these three sports teams had adequate funds to finance the stadiums, however soon had to use TARP funds to finish up the projects. With the grand opening of the new Yakees stadium just weeks away, many now realize that there are still hundreds of seats still in their inventory. "The Cowboys still have 2,000 premium seats and about 50 of their 300 luxury suites left to sell. The Mets, who once had deals for all 49 of their luxury suites, say they've had to go back to the market after customers backed out".

Not only are these projects being completed at the worst time in decades, but the reality of not selling premium or luxury seating is imminent. "In response to thenew climate, teams are offering financing for season tickets, shortening contract commitments on luxury suites, and in the case of the Yankees, re-designing seven unsold suites as "party suites," sonld on a game-by-game basis." Like we discussed in class, the fact is that with our economy as it is right now, consumers are spending less money on expensive entertainment than they were 5 to 10 years ago. For this, sectors such as the movie industry are benefiting. Consumers are looking for less costly way to be entertained and unfortunately for many pro-sports teams, this means there is going to be a huge decrease in ticket sales.

Here's an image of the new Cowboy $1.1 billion stadium, which still has thousands of seats still unsold...