Almost every company is laying people off.  You probably know someone who has lost his or her job in this terrible economy.  How bad has it gotten?  Well, the NFL is feeling it.  THE NFL!!!!!  The most popular sport and most profitable sport in America is laying people off.  THE NFL!!!!!!

This week, the NFL layed off 150 employees.  That’s about 14% of their total workforce.  MLB, the NBA, and NASCAR have also announced layoffs this year.  NASCAR has actually been hit the hardest because of the high cost of competing.  It costs about $20 million to run a race team.   That’s not even a successful race team.  Congrats to NASCAR for cutting testing this coming year.  That should save each team about $3 million.

Just like most companies, each sports league will make it through.  They will just need to be leaner and meaner during this time. 

Will any team face bankrupcy?  Well, it could happen.  There have been a handful of NHL teams that have filed for bankrupcy in the past.  If a team is going to file for bankrupcy now, it will probably be in the NHL.  However, if the auto industry continues to lay off more and more workers, any team in Detroit could really feel the pinch.  With rising ticket prices, it’s not about fans being willing to pay to watch.  The question would become fans even being ABLE to pay to watch.

Television has also been hit with declining advertising revenue.  WAVY TV has been looking for ways to become more cost efficient.  But, overall, I do believe television stands to make some profit during this time.  While more and more fans decide to stay home and watch the games on their new HD televisions, ratings should go up.  Will it offset the drop in ad dollars?  Who knows. 

Uncertainty.  That is the key word to this whole situation.  At some point, things will get better.  The question is just how bad will it get until then.