Professional sports leagues are cartels, and economists are keenly interested in how cartels behave. But their work is cut out for them, as the many player statistics available to the fan are not matched by an abundance of team and league financial information that would enable economists to test theories regarding labor economics. So they use a combination of economic theory, simple probability and statistical concepts to answer questions about the effects of free agency on competitive balance, for instance, or the causes of rising ticket prices and the impact of a new stadium on local...
Professional sports leagues are cartels, and economists are keenly interested in how cartels behave. But their work is cut out for them, as the many p...
Organized baseball has survived its share of difficult times, and never was the state of the game more imperiled than during the Great Depression. Or was it? Remarkably, during the economic upheavals of the Depression none of the sixteen Major League Baseball teams folded or moved. In this economist s look at the sport as a business between 1929 and 1941, David George Surdam argues that although it was a very tough decade for baseball, the downturn didn t happen immediately. The 1930 season, after the stock market crash, had record attendance. But by 1931 attendance began to fall rapidly,...
Organized baseball has survived its share of difficult times, and never was the state of the game more imperiled than during the Great Depression. Or ...
The National Football League has long reigned as America s favorite professional sports league. In its early days, however, it was anything but a dominant sports industry, barely surviving World War II. Its rise began after the war, and the 1950s was a pivotal decade for the league. Run to Glory and Profits tells the economic story of how in one decade the NFL transformed from having a modest following in the Northeast to surpassing baseball as this country s most popular sport.
To break from the margins of the sports landscape, pro football brought innovation, action,...
The National Football League has long reigned as America s favorite professional sports league. In its early days, however, it was anything but a d...
The Yankees and New York baseball entered a golden age between 1949 and 1964, a period during which the city was represented in all but one World Series. While the Yankees dominated, however, the years were not so golden for the rest of baseball. In The Postwar Yankees David George Surdam deconstructs this idyllic period to show that while the Yankees piled on pennants and World Series titles through the 1950s, overall Major League Baseball attendance consistently declined and gate-revenue disparity widened through the mid-1950s. Contrary to popular belief, the era was already...
The Yankees and New York baseball entered a golden age between 1949 and 1964, a period during which the city was represented in all but one World Seri...
Organized baseball has survived its share of difficult times, and never was the state of the game more imperiled than during the Great Depression. Or was it? Remarkably, during the economic upheavals of the Depression none of the sixteen Major League Baseball teams folded or moved. In this economist s look at the sport as a business between 1929 and 1941, David George Surdam argues that although it was a very tough decade for baseball, the downturn didn t happen immediately. The 1930 season, after the stock market crash, had record attendance. But by 1931 attendance began to fall rapidly,...
Organized baseball has survived its share of difficult times, and never was the state of the game more imperiled than during the Great Depression. ...
American living standards improved considerably between 1900 and 2000. While most observers focus on gains in per-capita income as a measure of economic well-being, economists have used other measures of well-being: height, weight, and longevity. The increased amount of leisure time per week and across people's lifetimes, however, has been an unsung aspect of the improved standard of living in America. In Century of the Leisured Masses, David George Surdam explores the growing presence of leisure activities in Americans' lives and how this development came out throughout the...
American living standards improved considerably between 1900 and 2000. While most observers focus on gains in per-capita income as a measure of econom...
American living standards improved considerably between 1900 and 2000. While most observers focus on gains in per-capita income as a measure of economic well-being, economists have used other measures of well-being: height, weight, and longevity. The increased amount of leisure time per week and across people's lifetimes, however, has been an unsung aspect of the improved standard of living in America. In Century of the Leisured Masses, David George Surdam explores the growing presence of leisure activities in Americans' lives and how this development came out throughout the...
American living standards improved considerably between 1900 and 2000. While most observers focus on gains in per-capita income as a measure of econom...
Between 1951 and 1989, Congress held a series of hearings to investigate the antitrust aspects of professional sports leagues. Among the concerns: ownership control of players, restrictions on new franchises, territorial protection, and other cartel-like behaviors. In The Big Leagues Go to Washington, David Surdam chronicles the key issues that arose during the hearings and the ways opposing sides used economic data and theory to define what was right, what was feasible, and what was advantageous to one party or another. As Surdam shows, the hearings affected matters as fundamental to...
Between 1951 and 1989, Congress held a series of hearings to investigate the antitrust aspects of professional sports leagues. Among the concerns: own...
Shows how baseball during the 1920s experienced both strife and prosperity, innovation and conservatism. With figures such as the incomparable Babe Ruth, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Rogers Hornsby, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, and Eddie Collins, the decade featured an exciting brand of livelier baseball, new stadiums, and overall stability.
Shows how baseball during the 1920s experienced both strife and prosperity, innovation and conservatism. With figures such as the incomparable Babe Ru...
