Does a bad economy affect sports? Youbetcha

USA Today publishes this article, which deals with sports and money across the spectrum. It's a pretty interesting read. Baseball receives a blurb just short of halfway down.

Major League Baseball: Attendance fell this season after four straight record years, proving commissioner Bud Selig was wrong when he estimated the sport could break 80 million in attendance for the first time. But the economic slowdown is felt beyond the turnstiles: Team coverage in many newspapers has been cut back, leading to a decreased presence in print for teams. And MLB expects a decrease in car ads - long a major sponsor - forcing clubs and networks to search for other advertisers.

Sales of licensed goods - such as jerseys and caps - is flat when compared with last year. It would be down factoring out the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium, which produced extra revenue.

Imagine that, Bud Selig was wrong. Never!

Don't worry, Bud, Spitting Seeds will always write articles on you and baseball; there will be no shrinking column inches here. That's perhaps good for baseball, but not for you, Bud.