... And a happy sports year to all.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS biz

A TIDY SYMMETRY CONJOINS THE YEAR 2011 and Denver Bronco Tim Tebow: Both have passed, and with mixed results.

In his second NFL season, Tebow's throws spanned a sprawling range, from fluttering mishap to unerring arc. In the sports-business world, 2011 was much the same: a mixed bag.

At one extreme were soulless reminders than the business of sports is very much than: a business. Too much of the 2011 scene look place around conference tables and in law firm offices as NFL and NBA team owners engaged in Greco-Roman wrestling matches devoted to determining how billions of dollars would be allocated. Don't know about you, but I've seen enough of David Stern and Roger Goodell at press conferences to last just about a lifetime. The only suits I want to see from now on are the kind with numbers writ large on the back, thank yon very much.

By the lime the NBA and the players union managed to reach agreement on a new contract. a fatigue had set in among fans. Was it just me, or did hardly anybody celebrate the news than a truncated version of the 2011-2012 NBA season would lake place? The resumption of play is welcome, but it's not going to make up for lost income and missed paychecks for those who work on the edges of the sport, collecting parking-lot fees, serving pre - game beers and guiding fans lo their Pepsi Center seals. So enough labor nonsense, please.

The enduring story behind the business of sport in 2011 was macroeconomic: high unemployment and a shrinking of the discretionary income the sports business depends on. On the plus side, we saw ticket deals in 2011 that were unusually generous as teams scrambled lo fill seats. But it was more difficult than ever for owners like Kroenke Sports lo achieve the virtuous cycle once articulated to me by Kroenke President Paul Andrews: Full buildings create a home-court advantage than begets a winning team. And a winning team begets a I till building.

And yet ... there were moments. There is. a school of thought that suggests in down limes, people need places lo escape more so than ever. For many of us. sports provide an essential release. Lukewarm economy or not, there is still an unmistakable...