The Terminator and Hulu

I've said in this space before that a large public works project is a great way to get the economy going again, whether it's at the state or national level. It puts people to work and if you build a large thing then there are always people who want to travel across the country to see the new, big thing. That being said, a football stadium is probably not the best idea for that big, new thing. Today California announced a massive project to build a 75,000 seat stadium just east of L.A.. Trust me, I worked at one for two years (and it was one of the better ones in the world), football stadiums get action 10 days a year, maybe 20 if you get a good concert schedule. The remainder of the calendar is chocked with half-full soccer games and private functions. They just don't make you a ton of money the rest of the year. There is a reason that the Kraft family, despite having one of the longest sell-out streaks in the NFL, needed to surround their stadium with two malls.

Oh, and there is one other small problem facing this project: L.A. doesn't even have a professional football team. Now sure, there are 4 or 5 other teams that could be in the market for a new stadium, but the NFL isn't like the NBA when it comes to moving teams around. Just because they're building a stadium it doesn't mean they will be guaranteed a franchise to fill it. The fans in L.A. haven't had a team since the Rams and Raiders left in 1995 and no one seems to complain about it. I have a couple friends out in Los Angeles and they're actually doing fine without the NFL (they certainly don't want the Raiders back). This could end up as the nicest stadium no one ever goes to. I like where you're head is at Schwarzenegger, you just missed the mark with the final idea. You should have gone with a museum. As long as there are women, and men trying to show how cultured they are in an effort to impress those women, museums will always stay open.

-So, it was announced today that Hulu is going to start charging for people to use it starting as early as 2010. And in future news, Hulu is no longer relevant. Sorry gang, but you can't let people use something for free for a couple years and then start charging for it - the genie is out of the bottle at that point. Ask Napster how well trying to charge for a previously free service worked out for them.