TBS Has Record-Low NLCS Ratings

After our discussion in class about broadcasting revenue, I thought this article was interesting. TBS, which is now carrying more than just Atlanta Braves games, isn't drawing a large crowd for the playoffs. The National League championship series had all the elements of a low-rated sporting event: a sweep involving two smaller-market, tradition-poor franchises. Why would anyone think that the ratings would be higher? The Rockies four-game sweep over the Diamondbacks drew a 3.3 rating for homes with TBS. The previous low average NLCS rating was a 6.2 for the Mets' five-game victory over the Cardinals in 2000. Why the big difference? Even though they are smaller teams, it's the playoffs. This is where teams are supposed to bring in extra money. However, Tuner Sports said network executives were "still very, very happy" with their seven-year deal with Major League Baseball despite the low NLCS ratings in their first year airing the playoffs. President David Levy is still optimistic. He said that broadcasting all the division series games on the same network helped attract viewers by eliminating confusion. Which could be very true. Were the ratings low because both contenders were small-market teams? Why wouldn't the playoffs draw more attention and demand?

Real Madrid the Yankee's of soccer

Baseball isn’t the only sport where teams attempt to buy a championship. Take a look at Real Madrid a Spanish soccer club. Real had over $200 dollars of revenue in the year 2002, and only made $10 in profit. Where’s it all going? You guessed it into the top notch players they buy from everywhere. Take a look at the roster. Ronaldo (world player of the year, current record holder for goals in a single world cup, world cup champion), Zinedine Zidane (2 time world player of the year, widely regarded as the best center midfielder to ever play period, was the highest paid player in sports prior to A-rod, world cup champion, Euro 2000 Cup champion), Luis Figo (2 time world player of the year), David Beckham (prior to move to the US, Beckham was the world player of the year and international icon). So what does it all mean can you buy a championship? Why yes you can…Real won the Spanish league in 2003, winning for the 29^th time and club history. That’s 3 more time than the Yankees, and they were founded just 1 year before. With all the power Real commands in Europe they sell jerseys for $65 a pop. That’s about $15 more than the Yankees. But does all this winning ruin the sport of soccer in Europe? Not quite. Real’s stadium holds 17,000 more people than Yankee stadium, it being one of the smaller stadiums in even in the country. Oh yeah its been sold out for the last 10 straight seasons (to every game)…

Forecasting the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics

The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel (aka the Nobel Prize in Economics) will be announced on Monday, October 15, 2007. Of the 58 men who have won the award outright or shared in it since the prize began in 1969 (no woman has yet to win it), 38 have been Americans. The leading university homes of the winners include the University of Chicago (9), followed by Columbia (4), Harvard (4), University of California-Berkeley (4), and Cambridge University, England (4).

Now, let's see how well you can forecast. I will award 2 bonus points to the first person who correctly forecasts the next winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. Your educated guess must be posted as a comment to this post before the Nobel Prize announcement is made. In the event that more than one person submit identical guesses, the earlier timestamp of the comment will determine the winner. The bonus points will be added to the winner's next exam score following the Nobel announcement on October 15.

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