Courses » » FYS Section A13. The Economics of Sports

This course uses economic ideas and tools to study the operation of professional and amateur sports leagues in the U.S. and abroad as well as to examine the impact of government policies on the operation of these sport leagues. While the course will focus on a few major sports (e.g., American football, basketball, baseball, and football [soccer]), the economic ideas and tools introduced in the course are applicable to the study of other sports leagues, and students are encouraged to analyze and study other professional sporting leagues such as golf, cycling, tennis, hockey, and auto-racing.

A significant portion of the course will be devoted to comparing and contrasting the business model of the U.S. sports leagues to the European sports leagues. Among the topics to be covered in the course are the purpose and structure of sporting leagues and their implications on revenues, costs, and profitability; the impact of competition or “competitive balance” on team owners and fans; the financing of sports facilities; negotiations over players’ salary and contracts, player movement (free agency or “Bosman ruling”), and player development; the history and implications of discrimination in sporting leagues; and the impact of NCAA policies on student-athletes and academic institutions.