Page 10 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1975
Growth period now in decline
Sports expansion boom busting out all over
NEW YORK (AP) - People
used to say the sports expansion
boom would end when it ran out
of cities. But a funny thing is hap
pening on the way to Europe, the
Orient and Smallville, USA: The
boom is going bust.
For the most part, the incred
ible days of pro sports expansion
appear over. Some teams may
even disappear in the near future,
victims of the deteriorating econ
omy, dilution and overexposure.
In the days before Wall St. re
placed Flatbush Ave. as the capi
tal of the sports world, there were
fewer leagues, fewer teams and
fewer problems. Ownership and
profit margins were as constant as
the New York Yankees winning
the World Series.
But times have changed. The
Yankees haven’t won a World Ser
ies since 1962 and teams that
were just starting or didn’t exist
then now own “world” titles. The
Mets won the World Series in
1969, Milwaukee won the Nation
al Basketball Association title in
1971 and Philadelphia of the Na
tional Hockey League won a Stan
ley Cup in 1974.
Leagues that didn’t exist in
1962 — the American Basketball
Association, World Hockey Assoc
iation and World Football League
to name only a few — have been
crowning champions and losing
money.
Since 1961 pro football has in
creased from 14 to 38 teams,
hockey from 6 to 32, basketball
from 9 to 28 and baseball from 16
to 24. And team sports have
sprung up in tennis, soccer, track,
lacrosse, boxing and volleyball, re
flecting the interest in making a
fast buck.
But what is becoming undeni
ably clear is that there is only so
much gold in them thar hills. And
the inflationary rush of new teams
and leagues combined with a re
cession has left some of these
teams and leagues steeped in debt.
Teams have folded in the ABA,
the WHA, and in World Team
Tennis. One league, the WFL, al
most folded after losing $20 mil
lion in its first season. World
Team Boxing, which said it would
have 48 teams, began with four
and has not been heard from since
its first week when it suspended
three of its four teams for non
payment of bills.
Consolidation may also be the
case in the ABA, another league
that has been bathing in red ink
since its inception. League presi
dent John Y. Brown advocates
trimming the fat from the 10-
team league by axing its weak
sisters, Memphis and San Diego.
“We’re in the entertainment
business,” Brown says. “And peo
ple just won’t pay to see inferior
products. Money is tight and you
can’t expect people to pay and see
us beat Memphis by 50 points.”
In the boom of the ’60s the
key word was expansion. But with
the threatened bust of the ’70s
Broome's SUNSHINE LAUNOBV
3815 E. 29th ST. — BRYAN, TEXAS 77801
PHONE 846-7921
Open 7 Days Weekly 7-10 Mon.-Frl./8-8 Sat.-Sun.
SELF-SERVICE LAUNDRY
C0IN-0P DRY CLEANING
PROFESSIONAL CLEANING & LAUNDRY
WASH-DRY-FOLD SERVICE
^Jupfnamba
“Eddie Dominguez ’66
fTVrrrJ Joe Arciniega 74 -'
. Greene, <
teHMI
toiiM)
11f you want the real
Ithlng, not frozen or
Scanned ... We call It
“Mexican Food
{Supreme.”
Dallas location:
, r 3071 Northwest Hwy.
352-8570
the password may be contraction
as teams and leagues grapple for a
profitable share of a very competi
tive — and shrinking — sports dol
lar.
“I think you will see teams dis
appearing in the near future,” says
baseball Commissioner Bowie
Kuhn. “There has been too great
overexpansion of sports.”
Kuhn believes baseball is less
affected by economic down-turns
because its tickets are cheaper
than other major sports. He says,
“There could be expansion in the
future, but the general economic
picture has prompted our people
to take a more careful look.”
Baseball hasn’t expanded since
adding four teams in 1969. The
National Hockey League may add
two more teams in the next two
years, but there is a good chance
those teams may simply be trans
ferred from other cities. The NBA
has postponed a planned expan
sion into Canada in 1975. There is
talk of contraction in the World
Hockey Association.
One of the 1969 expansion
teams in baseball included the
cost of buying player contracts
from other teams, the develop
ment of a scouting organization
from scratch, leasing a stadium
and building spring training facili
ties.
“It cost us at least another mil
lion in start-up costs that first
year,” says Peter Bavasi, vice pres
ident and general manager of the
Padres. “The second year was bet
ter because we didn’t have to buy
the typewriters and office furni
ture again.
“By then we were operatingoi
a budget similar to the establish
clubs, except we were burdentd
by interest payments and the
dining balance on the $10 million
entrance fee. You can makein
operating profit on a yearly basis,
but what about that $10 million
plus interest?
ALL PIGGLY WIGGLY STORES WILL BE
CLOSED EASTER SUN., MAR. 30.
Shop
PIGGLY WIGGLY
WILSON'S TENDERMAPE
» Ik.
9 can
RIB EVE STEAKS S h%TJ *«/.««‘2*’
BEEF SHORT RIBS "•"r *«''« S9 ‘ HAMS
cS kv
« 1 ^ w
497
m
2 hmti
i 2 In n<Nm*
***»
L *• lb. 1
OSCAR MAYER BEEF or MEAT.
SPECIAL COUPON MU*
50 FREES&H GREEN STAMPS
With Purchase of Family Pad
PORK CHOPS
Piggly Wiggly Markets Onl/
V'V”
I Unit One Coupon For Faulty
incut com*
50 FREE SAN GREEN STAMPS
With Purchase of any 2 li hjj
SAUSAGE
Piggly Wiggly Markets Only
j
CAII Wr „ ,
FOIL . _ Heavy Duty ^ ro ^
NEUHOPF'S SMOKED
HAMS
Butt
Portion
SMOKED THICK CUT
HAM ROAST
09
SWIFT PROTEN HEAVY BEEF
RIB STEAKS
Center
#9 1
SWIFT PROTEN HEAVY BEEF
CLUB STEAKS
U6U BRAND
conp.
MILK
Neuhoffs
12 02. pkg.
Neuhoffs / lb,
Di nnerTimer pkg. .
SMOKIES
FRANKS
CURE '81
CELERY California PabcaI m 29*
CENTENNIAL YAMS c.s,r««V./*. ..29*
D' ANJOU PEARS. . . . ». .29*
SUN KIST LEMONS ^ 3 - 29*
RADISHES .... 2 25 *
GREEN ONIONS 2 > 29 <
' 11 t
f POTATOES |
L Jjgi
NON DAIRY COFFEE CREAMER
COFFEE MATE.
mm _
TAMALES ... 5
BATHROOM TISSUE
DELSEY . . .2
STEAKH0USE CHARCOAL ^ ,,
BRIQUETS 10
BONNIE BAKER
BISCUITS . . . .
HEINZ az n7
B.B.Q. SAUCE . . bti .
PIGGLY WIGGLY
EGGS
Grade A’
Large
Doz.'
FROZEN FOOD DEPT. SPECIALS
Green Giant M . af
CORN on the COB 4 pkg..
Piggly Wiggly ' 16 oz.
WHOLE BABY OKRA. . . w
Piggly Wiggly Whole 20 oz.
NEW POTATOES ^
Ole' South All Varieties £ lb. ^19
COBBLERS E xce P f Blackberry
DISCOUNT HEALTH & HEAUTYUDS
CREST T 00 ^paste 7 oz. tube^
m /»ci Tablets ^ f
DI-GEL 30 ct. size List H 00 .
Protective 7 oz. can
Shave . . 'List *l 29 ■ •
Coca Cola
or
Dr. Pepper
RAISINS
Del Monte
Seedless ^7
IS oz. box
Borden’s
SOUR
CREAM
8 cr 39
CRACKERS
Sunshine Krispy Aft
I lb. pkg. . . .Mw
LIQUID SEG0
1
Diet M
Food ft
10 oz.
cans
Friskies
CAT FOOD
C IS or. *|
4# . cans . . I
Double fi&H Green Stamps every Tuesday wfth^Z^Qor niore purchase.
THESE PRICES GOOD
THURS., FRi, & SAT,
MARCH 27, 28, 29,
4 FINE STORES TO SERVE YOU
* 4300 TEXAS AVE.
* 3SI6 TEXAS AVE.
* 200 E. 24rti ST.
A #9 Redmond Terrace
COLLEGE STATION
BRYAN* TEXAS
Quantity Right! Reserved