Money Day

While the international media in Miami is focused on asking the Bears and Colts questions like:

"Peyton: Was it your idea to say, ''Moooover!'' in the commercial?"

Or:

"Brian, would you like to re-connect with Paris Hilton?"

Or:

"Aren't you a little too close to your mother, Mr. McCaskey?"

...we here at Ivy Chat are continually focused on all things financial. Crain's Chicago Business has a fine summary of how the Bears will profit from this week's game.

First of all, the Colts and Bears actually have to spend money to go to the game. The league pays airfare and hotel for each team for up to 100 players and staff, and 100 family members. Beyond that, it's on the team's checkbooks.

Players make $40,000 for being in the game. The winning team gets an additional $38,000 per player. It occurs to this writer that this is not exactly a huge incentive. Couldn't a severely underpaid player do something underhanded in an attempt to make even more money? Shouldn't the NFL compensate the players in such a way to disincentivise that?

Lastly, ticket prices can be expected to go up again. Success plus the limited seating capacity of the NFL's smallest stadium should equal a sharp rise in prices. But some fans should be able to profit as well due to a rise in the resale value of Soldier Field PSLs.