March 31, 1998 A family of four will spend $90 for a day at the ballpark this summer, according to University of Oregon sports marketing expert Dennis Howard. At those prices, most blue collar and middle income Americans--baseball's traditional fan base-- can't afford to attend more than a few games each season. Howard says it's clear that increasing corporate sponsorship and outright ownership of baseball teams will escalate future ticket prices even more. "We're heading towards an era when it's inevitable that corporations will become much more involved in sport ownership," Howard says. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, for example, just paid a record $311 million for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "Entertainment conglomerates are seeing sports as a way to extend their presence in the sports marketplace," says Howard. Corporations can afford to escalate the cost of sports because they make the money back through cross marketing. Murdoch uses baseball games to fill airtime on his Fox Cable Network and recruits international players for his sports teams to help sell his cable service abroad. Disney and Time-Warner are doing the same thing. "Media mega deals are driving up the cost of American sports, and the fans eventually pay the price--in ever higher ticket prices," Howard says, adding that, like it or not, the trend is here to stay. SOURCE: Dennis Howard, UO professor of sports marketing, (541) 346-3352; e-mail dennish@oregon.uoregon.edu -30- #T-6083/DAY