[Jogger]

Folks, Professional athletes make millions of dollars, much more money than teachers, doctors, and the police, how will they react in the future when peak oil affects sporting events?

[rogerhb]

You mean how will the spoilt prima donnas react when the greater populace doesn't give a fuck about them kicking an inflated sheeps bladder about a bit of grass?

[Jogger]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'Y')ou mean how will the spoilt prima donnas react when the greater populace doesn't give a fuck about them kicking an inflated sheeps bladder about a bit of grass?

[mekrob]

I think professional sports will still exist on a small scale, which is what I would like. I'm sick of the commercialization of sports especially at events like the Super Bowl. No more TO and other assholes holding out for more money. They'll have to play because they like it.

[rogerhb]

Now this is a way out of left field idea, but why don't people play sports themselves, the good old village soccer or cricket team?

[pup55]

As long as beer and auto companies continue to pour billions of advertising dollars into this, and as long as local governments subsidize this business by building new stadiums and giving tax abatements, and as long as there is an ESPN to cover the games, there will continue to be overpaid athletes to take advantage of the situation.

The weak link is the advertising money. I wonder what catastrophe would have to happen before miller, coors and Anheuser Busch decided to cut back on their advertising expenditures? My guess is that if the economy went to hell, they would actually increase their advertising so as to try to increase their sales.

[rogerhb]

Do you think if TSHTF people will need encouragement to drink? Certainly not in the UK.

[linlithgowoil]

people will tend to watch MORE sports when things are going to hell, just to get break from how crap things are.

there'll definetly be less money for the athletes though and it may be that they go back to earning actually slightly less than the average worker, like it used to be.

amazing though, a premiership footballer - an average not particulary great player - usually is paid around £30,000 a week. a top class player will be on more than £100,000 a week. a WEEK. i get £28,000 a YEAR.

disgusting.

[JayBee]

If the doomers are right then we will return to barbarism.

I look forward to watching the gladiators in my local amphitheatre.

If I'm hard-up for cash then I shall indenture myself into a gladiatorial school. Some training, a few free meals and then run through with a sword by someone who knew what they were doing. Still, it was a free meal ticket.

[mekrob]

Gladiators fought in colliseums. Ampitheatres were for plays I believe. I wanna see the horse races. How about some good ol' executions?!?!

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'Y')ou mean how will the spoilt prima donnas react when the greater populace doesn't give a fuck about them kicking an inflated sheeps bladder about a bit of grass?

[Mechler]

You're right, cube, athletics and other forms of entertainment, of some sort, will always be around. Keep in mind, though, that the current pro/elite sports system in very energy intensive. Think of all of the travel associated with competitions. In the US, sports teams travel across the country several times a week. Olympic level athletes travel from continent to continent to compete. And then there are the fans that drive to the events...

Athletes will most likely take pay cuts, if their sports aren't outright disbanded on the elite level. Eventually, sports will become much more of a local event, with locals competing against other locals in cross-town rivalries. But, hey, I've always believed that participating in sports is better than watching sports.

One last side note: watching the overpaid athletes come down to Earth won't be nearly as satisfying as when reality slaps the Hollywood elite right across the face. Too bad that won't be caught on film.

[JayBee]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mekrob', 'G')ladiators fought in colliseums. Ampitheatres were for plays I believe. I wanna see the horse races. How about some good ol' executions?!?!

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Mechler', 'Y')ou're right, cube, athletics and other forms of entertainment, of some sort, will always be around. Keep in mind, though, that the current pro/elite sports system in very energy intensive. Think of all of the travel associated with competitions. In the US, sports teams travel across the country several times a week. Olympic level athletes travel from continent to continent to compete. And then there are the fans that drive to the events...

[elroy]

Perhaps being an athlete will become something someone does besides their regular job. But as long as there are people, they will want to compete in sports games. The olympics were started thousands of years before oil came along, it isn't required for sports to exist.

[mekrob]

It's true that sports are very energy intensive, although they've tried to cut down on the impact by making the division teams closer to each other, although they made some pretty idiotic choices like putting Miami in the division of New England, Buffalo, and NY, and Indy with Tennessee, Houston and Jacksonville, among others in other sports. They'll still find watchers but some teams will probably just disappear in the smaller areas, like Arizona, Jacksonville, Seattle, etc.