MONEY FOR NOTHING
Why the Astros' current proposal for fans in 2020 doesn't add up
May 15, 2020, 6:53 am
Photo by Elsa/Getty Images.
For several months, there's been a lawsuit pending by some Houston Astros fans demanding that the team refund money spent on tickets during the 2017 season because the Astros were caught cheating. That ain't never going to happen. That's ancient history.
This week, that lawsuit was expanded to insisting that the Astros refund in full money spent on 2020 season tickets because, just accept it, those tickets are worthless because of the COVID-19 crisis. This part of the lawsuit makes sense.
"The Astros refuse to refund season ticket payments for the entire 2020 season in the face of the COVID-19 coronavirus … with full knowledge that the full slate of Astros 2020 home games would not be played in front of fans at Minute Maid Park," according to the complaint.
I don't have an Astros bank statement in front of me, but my friend at MLB.com says the Astros sell about 25,000 season tickets (I think that's a little high) at an average price of $70 per game (sounds about right).
I'm not an arithmetic wizard – I was absent that day, but let's Cap'n Crunch the numbers. That's $70 (ticket price) times 25,000 (tickets sold) times 81 (number of home games) equals $141 million total take from season tickets. That's a rough estimate.
The Astros current position is, they're willing to refund season tickets for 33 games, the number of games that would have been played through May 31 – if the purchaser contacts the team by May 22. So let's subtract $57,750,000 for 33 games from the Astros' total season ticket haul. That leaves them holding onto roughly $83 million to keep in the bank gaining interest, invest in projects, overpay a .270 career free agent, or whatever. If the U.S. economy comes back from the dead, as President Trump insists it will, that $83 million plowed into the stock market could become … hey, I thought there wouldn't be any math on this test. Ticket buyers also could ask for credit on next year's tickets. The Astros would love that.
This is like when Britney Spears (or a bunch of acts) announces she's performing a concert in Houston that's more than a year away, but tickets go on sale 10 a.m. this Friday. She easily could sell $1 million worth of tickets. Who's holding onto that $1 million for more than a year? That's a lot of, as Dire Straits would say, money for nothing.
This is like the Rodney Dangerfield joke, where he borrowed $200 from a loan shark, paid him $50 a month for 10 years and still owed him $10,000. United Airlines called, they're telling the Astros to lighten up on their refund policy.
The Astros are willing to pony up refunds for 33 games. There are several scenarios for the resumption of the 2020 baseball season. Not one of them has 25,000 fans, plus single-game ticket buyers, packing Minute Maid Park. Even if a limited number of fans are allowed to return to stadium – there is a far-fetched plan that would include social distancing - the Astros still should offer refunds for all tickets purchased. Some fans justifiably might feel uncomfortable attending events with large numbers of people. Or they have health issues that would make attending games unwise. Would the Astros ticket office make them produce a note from their doctor? That's insane.
Just chalk up 2020 as a ghost year, refund every ticket if the purchaser wishes, build up some good faith with fans, and start from scratch in 2021. Baseball will still be around. The fans will still be here. Life will go on.
Tennis, anyone?
I know tennis isn't the most popular sport with readers, but I was emotionally moved by Reilly Opelka's speech after winning a TV-only exhibition tournament (no fans in attendance) last week. Opelka told viewers that he was happy to win the event, and commented that it was Saturday … which meant he could hit a Chick-fil-A for dinner on his way home. It was probably the most normal thing a tennis pro has ever said in a victory speech.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Road teams made a stand on Monday, and a pair of series are suddenly knotted up.
Day 3 of the NBA playoffs was about the visitors. Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points — his most in any game since December 2023, his most in a playoff game since 2021 — to lift the Los Angeles Clippers past Denver 105-102. And in New York, Cade Cunningham scored 33 points, Dennis Schröder had a big 3-pointer with 55.7 seconds left and Detroit beat the Knicks 100-94 for its first playoff win in 17 years.
Those series are now tied at a game apiece, heading back to L.A. and Detroit.
There are three games on Tuesday, with Indiana playing host to Milwaukee, Oklahoma City hosting Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers hosting Minnesota. The Pacers and Thunder are seeking 2-0 leads; the Lakers will try to make it 1-1 before the series shifts to Minnesota.
Tuesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Milwaukee at Indiana (NBA TV)
7:30 p.m. — Memphis at Oklahoma City (TNT/truTV)
10 p.m. — Minnesota at L.A. Lakers (TNT/truTV)
Wednesday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Orlando at Boston (TNT/truTV)
7:30 p.m. — Miami at Cleveland (NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — Golden State at Houston (TNT/truTV)
Thursday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at L.A. Clippers (NBA TV)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+200). After that, it's Cleveland (+600), Golden State (+1400), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1600), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2000), New York (+4000), Minnesota (+4000) and Denver (+5000).
Denver's odds took a big hit after the Nuggets lost Game 2 at home to the Clippers — whose odds, in turn, improved greatly.
From there, it's Indiana (+8000), Houston (+10000), Milwaukee (+15000), Detroit (+35000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +100000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is favored (-375) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston. The Warriors entered that matchup favored, and Sunday's win moved those odds even more.
Other underdogs now favored to advance: Minnesota and the Clippers.
Award season
The first of the major NBA awards comes out on Tuesday, when the league announces the sixth man of the year — either Detroit's Malik Beasley, Cleveland's Ty Jerome or Boston's Payton Pritchard.
It’ll be revealed at 7 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
The other awards this week: clutch player (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), defensive player of the year (Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT), and the hustle awards (Friday at 2 p.m.).
Key upcoming events
April 26 — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Tuesday's games: Pacers-Bucks, Thunder-Grizzlies, Lakers-Timberwolves.
— Tom Thibodeau isn't happy with how Game 2 was officiated.
— Mavs GM Nico Harrison didn't know how beloved Luka Doncic was in Dallas.
— The NBA finalists for seven awards are released.
— The playoffs could be wide-open. Again.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award.
Stats of the day
— The Pistons snapped a 15-game playoff losing streak. Another loss would have tied the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (1975-79) for the second-longest in U.S. pro sports at 16. The playoff-futility record is held by baseball's Minnesota Twins, who once dropped 18 straight.
— The last time Detroit won a playoff game before Monday, LeBron James was 249th on the all-time scoring list and Gregg Popovich was 19th on the all-time coaching wins list. They're both No. 1 now by wide margins.
— Strange but true: The last three playoff triple-doubles have come in losing efforts. Nikola Jokic had one Monday night in Denver's loss to the Clippers and Luka Doncic's final two playoff ones for Dallas last season — one against Minnesota in the West finals, the other against Boston in the NBA Finals — both were in losses.