Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-30
GAME COSTS
LARGE SUN
FOOTBALL PUTS MILLIONS IN
CIRCULATION
YALE-HARvARD CONTEST TURNS
LOOSE FORTUNE
All Kinds of Expense. Attached to
Gridron Sport, but Public Is
Always Ready to Foot
Bills

Football puts good many millions into
circulation each yelr--say about $20.00Oe 900,
for instance. 1t is one of the costliest
asnusements. The expenses includes
money spent to prepare the teams for
the games. money paid to see them
! played, and the incdentals. Perhaps the
cost of incidentals, money spent for things
which would not have been bought had
1t not been for the football games-make
up the big end of the bill.
There are two big games each year
| which serve as standards by which to
| compute in. a general way the annual
| football bill There are the Yale-Harvard
| and the Army Navy games, events In the
sporting and social world which are
| famous the country over.
| According to a Boston football statis-
| tician, the Yale-Harvard game puts ST.
| 100000 into circulation every season. 1t
is safe to say that the great annual
struggle on Franklin field at the Univer-
sity of Pennsylvania, between the Naval
academy team and the West Point eleven,
represents the expenditure of like
amount.
So with $2O0O,000 charged against the
| two big events of the season, 1t is easy
| to see how the many other games played
by the big colleges and the endless list
c. minor contests crowded into the short
season, will bring up the total expendi-
| ture to the amount named above.
| Yale and Harvard spond together about
$50, 900 each season preparing for the great
| game Inasmuch as this is the big con-
| test In the schedule of both colleges III
| & ines played beforehand must be looked
upon as preliminary" or preparatory"
| These games naturally involve heavy
! expenditures. There are railway fares,
hotel bills and other travelling expenses.
Then there is nearly $4,000 spent at each
place for coaches, salaries, labor. main
tenance and repairs. Footballs cost about
$500 at Yale and double that amount is
spent on trophies. Another thousand goes
for printing, stationery etc.
The training table at both Yale and
Harvard costs nearly $4,000 for the sea-
son, although the players pay regular
boarding prices.
When the time for the big game draws
near the question of extra seats for the
ljcrowd must always be met. Yale's
stadium will hold $1,000, but 5000 more
seats usually are erected This means
another $25O0. Police and officials and
ticket booths and ropes add $500 more to
tll3 bill.
Receipts Are Large
Then comes the big item-the ex-
cidental The total receipts of the big
game are about 100000, but spectators
reap a tremendous harvest on the side
and thousands more are spent in this
manner.
Great crowds go from Cambridge to
New Haven or vice versa, depending
upon the place set for the game, and
the fares run well up into the thou
sands others come from all over the
i,, foo eaa ao
to attend the game of games, and all
this swells the total
Between the railway station to the
football field hackmen ply with tre-
mendous profit
.What'll y charge t. take me to Yale
field" says an excited football enthu-
siast to cabby at New Haven station.
'oBout a quarter" says the cabby.
laconically. But he means Quarter Of
hundred dollars, not cents. And SO
the prices run on the great day. Pile
on many thousands spent this way and
several more for the common or gar
den method of transportation, via troll
leys which carry about 10000 of the
throng.
Then many pairs of new gloves are
bought; many new suits of clothes, new
gowns, hats, overcoats, furs. steamer
rugs to keep the rooter and his best
girl warm; pairs cf shoes, punches of
flowers, boxes of candy, ribbon and,
college flags. Many thirsty and chilly
souls provide a black bottle for the
occasion. And then the business done
by the hotels in providing lodgings and
meals and over the bars is enormous
Dinners which follow the game mean
$4,000 at least
Army and Navy Draw
The army and navy game is unique
In the football program. From a spec
tacular point of view, there Is moth
ing in the way of sport-not even the
great racing events-to which 1t may
be compared. From all over the coun-
try and all over the world the specta-
tors come for the game. Men high In
the national administration, from the
presidents down. Cabinet officers. dip
lomats and army and navy officers
are conspicuous in the boxes and on
the stands.
On the field the spectacle is one
which sets the blood tingling. The
game is "for blood" always and the
hosts of the army and navy. banked
on both sides of Franklin field, cheer
with the same frantic energy which
marks the work of both teams. Bands
blare patriotic airs, flags fly, and every
good play sets a sea of blue, gold or
gray tossing and roaring.
The same expense lists holds good
there as at New Haven or Cambridge.
Tickets start selling at $3.50, and wind
up somewhere around 500. The Off
cials have nothing to do with this. but
speculators corral great quantities OF
tickets and make the enthusiasts pay.
The official proceeds go for expenses,
and some of the money is spent charit-
ably. The boxes are sold at auction
weeks before the game, and big prices
are realized. Fully 100000 attend the
game, and the money that gets into
circulation throuqh fhe sale Of ffcIrets