I think part of what is lost in this, is that all of those times in our youth, waiting in line for a free autograph, we never realized that they were only free to us(not counting charity functions or randomly at games). The players were still getting paid an appearance fee by the promoters and whatnot to sign for us. Now, those appearance fees have gotten outrageous, to the point where there is no choice but to directly pass the cost down to us.. It's transformed these appearances from a promotional tool, to a profitable business in it's own right. Not only for the player, but whoever is arranging the appearance as well. Basically, too many hands in the cookie jar..
My main issue is that the profitability of these appearances, has led the players to avoid signing at games for fear of driving down their own prices at these appearances. They've basically alienated themselves from anyone who isn't directly paying them for contact..
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