A fella named Gonzales plays first base for Boston and he just signed a 7 year deal for about $150 million. That's right. So you get it in perspective, he makes in a week what the President of the United States makes in a year....and he gets a 7 year term.
I did a quick look up on Boston's Fenway Park and found that tickets seem to be anywhere from $28 to $138 a pop to attend a game. Hot dogs cost a lot but it is, in the grand scheme of things, not out of the question. I have a son in law who goes on a pilgrimage to Boston once or twice a year and at those prices, its a bargain getaway. But Fenway only seats about 40,000 super max and then I think they strap kids to support poles. Let's do the math. 40,000 x's 81 home games x's the top end $128 = $45 million and change if they sell out every game (they don't, then sell about 2 million tickets a year). Mr. Gonzales gets between half of that and all of that assuming they sell out every game at nearly the top price with kids strapped to the support columns in right field.
In New York, the city mainly built the Yankees a new stadium that seats 12,000 more than in Boston. I just looked and I can get 2 seats (best available) in Section 118 for $325 a pop. To be fair, the Yankees do have cheap seats about a mile from home plate but they do have them. I did look at the average price and that appears to be in the $225 range when you count in the high and low end stuff. So, again, do the math $225 x's 81 x's 52,000 = $94.7 million, or roughly the cost of the infield's salary plus one pitcher and one catcher.
These franchises are worth a billion dollars each, pure and simple. Their food concessions take in about $30 million in each place; in comparative terms, enough to run the free meal soup lines for lunch in each city for a year. Just think of it. Let your mind get around these figures. Dad takes his two kids to Fenway to see Rodriquez play first base, plunks down $300 in tickets, another $40 in meager food, probably another $30 to park the car - $400 for an afternoon. In New York, where the team supports another $20 million a year guy or 2 or 3, its almost twice that. Yes it is worth it for quality and memory.
If I were looking down from the moon I would rename earth "LUNA" (s it -tic)