As a card-carrying devil's advocate, I would argue that, in general, things have not gone downhill, and that professional sports have always been about the money. Things have not gone downhill: this is why few of us would trade our lives today for our ancient tradition of lion-dodging. Professional sports came into existence because a center fielder for the Cincinnati Reds decided in 1869 there was money to be made by a professional sports team. He eventually started a players' league which got gazumped by an owners' league, baseball's National League, in 1876, which today is a multibillion dollar operation. In the old days the owners made a practice of paying players very little of their profits, in the first place because they were cheap, and in the second because they realized people would romanticize athletes more (and fork over more of their money to the owners) if they didn't make the sort of money entertainers in other fields did. It was a wonderful piece of penny-pinching hypocrisy that worked a treat for decades. In 1972, for example, the NFL was the most popular show on American television, bringing in vast revenues, yet the average yearly salary for an NFL player was something like $10,000--no more than an average wage for anyone else. Good and bad things come to an end, and the players eventually got the cut they deserved for the entertainment they provided. Entertainment continues to grow as an industry (because more people have more leisure time, since things have overall gotten better), sports is the flagship of the entertainment industry, and a big sports star wouldn't dream of taking home less than $10,000,000 a year. People say it's become all about the money, but it always was. Players were every bit as mercenary in 1890 as they are today (my hometown baseball team is called the Pirates because they found mercenaries willing to switch teams for more money). They just get more for their efforts now, and fewer fans are as blind to the mercenary nature of the game. No prima donna athlete today has anything on some of Ancient Greece's olympic athletes, nor does politics intrude more on sports now than it did 2500 years ago. I'd rather my sports entertainment dollar go to the players who I enjoy watching than the big businessmen behind the scenes--though I do wish everyone could cooperate to provide a more level playing field for more teams, and (somehow) keep players from moving around so much. The old days weren't good, they weren't better, they weren't even the same. They were even worse and even more hypocritical, though we may have been younger, more innocent and happier.
Great thread topic... some things were worse pre 1990's...hooliganism; racism; dangerous crushes; abuse and contempt from the police...I take my daughters to a few matches a year which I would never have done if I 'd been a dad in the 70's or 80's. but... they key things that made it better were... 1) you could afford to go to matches ... as many as you wanted cos it was affordable ... this season I managed to take my kids to 7 matches .... 2 league cup, 3 uefa cup cos kids tickets were a fiver and adult tickets £20 but only 2 league matches...hull and villa cos they were cat c matches so were cheaper... we played approx 27 home matches this season! 2) many players are a million miles away from fans in every way possible...they move around cos of signing on fees so rarely stay at a club for any length of time...act like spoilt brats (look at modric's behaviour; berbatov; keane) FFS look at toure at city...over a birthday cake! It was not like that prior to the stupid money in football...look at the difference in how hoddle; ossie; waddle; clive allen etc. left... 3) Kits, balls, programmes, badges, scarves, boots etc. are all extortionately high priced to pay for the outlandish salaries the players are given. can you image the reaction if you were charged the equivalent of £2.50 for a coke or £3.50 for a programme let alone £50 for a team top in the 80's? 4) many players are arrogant and self centred...look at rooney at the last world cup...he seriously thought he had a right to moan at the fans who objected to the **** England performances, on live tv! that was definitely not the case in the 80's imo Don't get me wrong ... I really enjoy being a spur and love that my girls like football...but it's all money money money...and unfortunately too many fans have bought into it. so many mock winning the uefa cup and the league cup and would prefer 4th to winning the FA cup. guessing this just makes me an old haggered bastard
I agree very much with Spurlocks original post. This Spurs site has a majority of highly intelligent posters who I know from experience have balanced and realistic views of the game they love. It is IMO the best ball game that man has invented so it's only natural that it should receive the huge hype and attention of the worlds largest corporations but it is a shame that for huge numbers of people around the world it is such a diversion from reality. If the people of the world devoted half as much attention to their local politics and became half as well informed we would see the world improve out of sight. It's not religion any more that is the opium of the people, it is the bread and circuses of Rome that has been revived in the shape of football.
As you indicate Spurf, it's difficult to blame America for something that's been around since at least Roman times. If it wasn't football, then it'd be one of the other distractions, like reality TV or talent shows, both of which have massive followings now anyway.
It is unfair to blame the US for all of this, but go ahead and do it anyway! We're far from alone in making the world a a crappier place, we just always manage to lead the way... It is true that some things are worse than they used to be. Season tickets rising past what most can afford to pay for them is certainly one of them (but only for football and maybe the NFL, who wants to go to 81 baseball games a year, anyway?).
The OP mentions Nike. Well according to Private Eye Nike paid a total of £46,000 tax in the UK. I wish everyone in the UK was aware that estimates of UK benefit fraud/mispayment stands at around £1.1bn a year whilst tax evasion, mostly by huge, highly wealthy, powerful corporations, stands at around £15bn a year. Yet of course people are trained to despise and blame the working class for their troubles, not the makers of the £250 football boots. And on the topic of tax avoidance by the hugely wealthy (which steals much, much more from the UK than someone claiming too much housing benefit to get money that then goes directly to a rich landlord) it's also worth mentioning how players are also often taxed at a lower rate than foolish, normal non-rich people like you and me. Lampard, Rooney and Gerrard (only ones in the article I read) don't pay normal PAYE on their wages. A huge chunk of it is image rights which go into the coffers of Frank Lampard Ltd (eg). They then pay tax only when they withdraw money from this "company". About half of what they would pay if they actually paid income tax. So next time you get peeved that some people somewhere get a very small amount of money unfairly just remember that anyone wearing a football kit or an expensive suit to work is stealing money on a scale that someone in a council house can only dream of. And they do it every day of every year.
It's funny when people blame the US for things they don't like in the culture. USA is simply what happens when you let a bunch of Europeans loose on a continent and they're allowed to get on with it. Turns out Europeans, given the chance, want a bunch of dumb stuff and when they build a country from scratch it involves (gasp!) loads of genocide and caring more about money than pretty much anything else.
You're almost certainly correct. I just didn't feel that Africans or Asians really had all that much, er, say in how things developed there. But you're right - I bet if, say, Nigeria discovered a whole new continent only thinly populated by some low-tech natives and rich in natural resources the outcome would not be all that much of a beacon for how enlightened humans can be.
"whilst tax evasion, mostly by huge, highly wealthy, powerful corporations" Tax AVOIDANCE. Tax evasion is illegal. "Lampard, Rooney and Gerrard (only ones in the article I read) don't pay normal PAYE on their wages." If they operate a "personal service company" , they can only avoid NICs. #1 Which means they will still pay corporation tax on dividends at 20% , and then another 20% as they cross the 40% personal tax threshold. If they are part of a more 'exotic' financial management scheme (like Jimmy Carr, Take That etc) #2 , God knows what they are claiming/getting. #1 My company is one such. #2 A colleague of mine was doing this ( ~100K pa - not the millions of footballers) , and now the taxman is on his case due to new tax avoidance legislation (which has a retrospective element) .
I have a source who says that Alex Ferguson and Wayne Rooney were both in one such scheme, and they owe £50m in back taxes between them.
"You're right RDBD, tax avoidance is legal. That's until they find out that it's not, of course!" I'll have to ask my colleague what his annual take was, and see how much more that was compared to a PSC arrangement. Given he had to pay the management company a fee, was the increased take after all that really worth it (at our market rates it seems too much like hard work to me) . Corporates OTOH have more tax at stake. And the money to pay expensive financial bods to forensically dissect Tolleys etc and find ways of mitigating their tax liabilities. The international GAAR is supposed to lessen such antics. The current austerity in the EU means there is a greater appetite currently on the mainland to get stuck into Amazon, Starbucks etc.
About 15bn a year in tax FRAUD and about 35bn a year in tax AVOIDANCE, going by HMRC's own estimates, though some have the figure at more like 70bn total. Good job pointing out the distinction, though - it's often confused. Not that I think there should be a distinction half the time, mind! Tax avoidance (like calling yourself a company and pretending that your wages are somehow profits being made by a "company" or something) might not be illegal, just like how Nike claims that their operations in the UK are just "agencies" that are paid commission by Nike Europe in the Netherlands or something. But that's only because it's bloody hard to keep on top of all the new ways that accountants can find to go against the spirit of the laws and rules. I do believe that Lampard, for one, has a film company or something that obviously has no staff, make no films but has an address somewhere (or something). Rich people get to rip off the UK in ways that are legal. Poorer people get threatened with prison for shoplifting food or being a bit dodgy on housing benefit forms so they can hope to pay rent which is increasing much, much faster than wages.
Virtually all of what I'm reading above can be abridged into one word, Greed! It's been going on for centuries and will probably go on for centuries more. Unfortunately, it seems to be part of this thing called human nature.
You're right it's not fair, but right now the US culture dominates the world and therefore receives more than it's share of the blame. You invented MacDonalds and KFC after all.
German scientists have predicted the outcome of every single match at the World Cup and revealed that their country will reach the final - but lose to Spain. (Source: Daily Mirror)
Guaranteed to generate far more entertainment than the England team will: http://now-here-this.timeout.com/20...y-of-water-cannons-by-being-blasted-with-one/
