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PROFESSOR STRESSES THE VALIDITY OF PRO SPORTS ECONOMICS

by Robert Sorensen

In a recent commentary M. Ethel Myers questioned the academic content of a course entitled The Economics of Professional Sports. As the professor who will be teaching this course I would like to set the record straight. In particular, I would like to assure students, faculty and administrators that this will be a course with a rich academic content.

The course is not about sports per se, but rather about the application of economic analysis to sports industries. Thus students will investigate such topics as how firms operate in imperfectly competitive markets, how labor markets work under alternative institutional arrangements and how markets determine the valuation of firms. In addition, important issues of public policy such as the use of taxes to subsidize sports facilities and the role of sports teams in local economic development will be analyzed.

I would also point out that in the last several years numerous research articles on sports economics have appeared in well respected, mainstream economic journals. In addition, prestigious research institutes (e.g. Brookings, Heartland) have published books investigating various aspects of sports economics.

Students who are only interested in sports trivia need not apply. Students who are interested in understanding how economic analysis can be powerfully applied to the seemingly complex sports business are welcome.