Pro sports financials (only higher-paid gender examined so far) (sources for data below are available if someone is interested in improving this analysis) League salaries ($billions) revenue generated ($billions) ratio NFL 10.9 22.2 2.0 MLB 5.8 12.8 2.2 NBA 5.7 12.3 2.2 NHL 3.2 7.9 2.5 MLS 0.6 2.2 3.7 Overall 26.2 57.4 2.2 Salaries above do not include other costs to teams, but if salaries are very large fractions, then investing in Pro sports yields approach 2X annually. Doubling one’s money is an attractive proposition. If this looks like ‘The American Way', I’d counter that investing in scientific research and development offers arguably better outcomes. -- US spending on research and development: “Even as public funding has dropped, business R&D investments have steadily risen. Today businesses spend far more than the government; in 2023, companies invested about $700 billion in R&D while the US government spent $172 billion, according to data from the NSF’s statistical agency.” Quote from: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/17/1123760/how-to-measure-the-returns-to-rd-spending/ See also: https://www.royalsociety.org/news-resources/publications/2024/science-and-the-economy/ https://www.innovationgrowthlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Evidence-Review-Measuring-the-Social-Returns-of-RD-Investment-1-2.pdf Depending on what source one considers, return on invest (ROI) is 5 to 20X from Science, but it has squishy aspects. ROI is not measured on annual basis and includes Societal benefits that are less clearly defined. Some R&D investments may yield no ROI at all. It is no wonder then that Pro sports backers shake their pom poms and welcome further monetization of College sports. Against which I suggest that ROI on scientific R&D investments (even if not dramatically larger than on sports) does more to advance the Human Enterprise. One team wins for example Super Bowl one year and following year does not. That seems a small matter, but when science R&D investments create something new and valuable, it sticks. -- Sports analysis does not include UFC which might show a high ROI. It is favored by some Americans now in high places. -- Are Pro sports more than distractions for the masses? Bread and chocolate? Science R&D certainly is not.
Can you please clarify the specific "science" you're trying to reference here? I see zero of it... I only see financial numbers... And when you actually look at the numbers in pro sports the whole system is rigged to benefit the oligarchs and no one else and they could care less about advancements in medical science to make their players better if cutting the player from the team is cheaper. As in NFL causes brain damage at scale and they care more about their money than the science of protecting players. Specifically... Today, while I was driving to buy spark plugs, air filter and oil filter for a 2009 Prius I heard on the radio that the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks were purchased by an awful oligarch in 1992 for $81 million and he immediately sent the moving trucks in and attempted to move the team to Los Angeles. A short amount of time later another oligarch Paul Allen of Microsoft saved Seattle from losing their football team by paying a bit more than double while the moving trucks were almost loaded and ready to head to California. That's a disgusting obscene profit that should be criminalized if their was justice and basic human rights in the world! Fast-forward to this week after Paul Allen has been dead since 10/15/18 his estate finally sold the team for $9.6 Billion!!!! That's not science, that's corrupt evil people who don't care about the survival of 8 billion humans, but care about rigging their criminal inhumane system because they think the only meaning in life is exploiting other people to maximize their profits by a global economy that's built on corruption and greed! So again I say why have you mentioned zero ROI as relates to actual Science in your post?
