opening our parks

[balzaccom]

There is a huge effort being put into opening up professional sports during the Covid19 crisis. Many of the arguments in favor of opening up the games center around the many employees of the stadiums, and how they depend on revenue from the games.

So. I did a little research. About 17 million fans attend NFL games each year. Another 22 million attend NBA games. And Major League Baseball attracts nearly 70 million fans to the stadiums each year. 

Wow, you must be thinking. That’s a lot.

Do you know many people visit our national parks each year? Over 300 million—about three times the number that attend NFL, MLB and NBA games combined each year. Another 800 million visit the various state parks throughout the country. Between state and national parks, ten times as many people visit those as attend all professional sports games in the USA.

Of course, our president doesn’t watch our national parks on television, so that must explain why our parks don’t get as much attention…sigh.

Edited May 19, 2020 by balzaccom

[jay]

I think it might have more to do with revenue, personally.  Lots of money is generated by sporting events, for the area as well as the teams.  I think you and I have in common that we would rather escape to the boonies rather than sit and watch a football game; I would much prefer that the parks be open, as well.

I might be being cynical with this statement but I am not sure how many regular folks are even aware that the parks are closed at this time.  I am hoping that things open up soon.  Backpacking is much cheaper than therapy.  

[balzaccom]

Of course you are right.  But it is interesting to note how many people visit our parks...

[jay]

I am surprised that there are so many visitors to the parks.  It is good to see that there are so many, and hopefully it will educate some of them to be a bit more supportive of conservation efforts.   

[Tephanie H.]

Yes, it's good to know how many people visit our parks. Thanks for the insight. We recently opened  Franklin Mountain State Park and each day they have sold out of entries. That's a great sign! It shows that many people are opting for outdoors. 

[jay]

On 5/28/2020 at 5:51 PM, Tephanie H. said:

Yes, it's good to know how many people visit our parks. Thanks for the insight. We recently opened  Franklin Mountain State Park and each day they have sold out of entries. That's a great sign! It shows that many people are opting for outdoors. 

It kind of funny and a bit off topic but I noticed last weekend that our local Walmart was completely sold out of bicycles and their camping section looks almost stripped bare.  I'm hoping it means more people are getting outdoors.  I'm not sure about anyone else but a bit of time spent outdoors is great for improving my general disposition.

[Tephanie H.]

I saw that in the media that bikes were selling out. I wasn't aware of the camping  items being stripped bare but that's a good thing. Spending time outdoors also improves my disposition. #spendtimeoutdoors