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ABSTRACTWe employ a model of n heterogenous profit-maximizing clubs to analyze the impact of revenue sharing in professional sports leagues on competitive balance. Revenues of each club depend on absolute quality, relative quality and on competitive balance itself so that our model captures much of the preceding literature as special cases. We show that revenue sharing always increases competitive balance if clubs differ only with respect to the impact of absolute quality on revenues. On the contrary, revenue sharing reduces competitive balance if only clubs' relative qualities play a role for revenues or if only two teams are considered.

ABSTRACTWe employ a model of n heterogenous profit‐maximizing clubs to analyze the impact of revenue sharing in professional sports leagues on competitive balance. Revenues of each club depend on absolute quality, relative quality and on competitive balance itself so that our model captures much of the preceding literature as special cases. We show that revenue sharing always increases competitive balance if clubs differ only with respect to the impact of absolute quality on revenues. On the contrary, revenue sharing reduces competitive balance if only clubs' relative qualities play a role for revenues or if only two teams are considered.

The relationship between government and professional sports is analyzed by reviewing Congressional activity relative to professional sports during the period 1951-1978. During this time, nearly 300 pieces of sports legislation have been proposed. Congressional concern with sports is explained by the impact of sports events, such as franchise moves, upon specific constituencies, and league- initiated requests for assistance. Conflicting perceptions in Congress of professional sports as pure sport and big business help explain a change in Congress' posture toward the sports leagues. The politics of professional sports is explored, and a Congressionally defined right to access is identified and explained. The article concludes that due to Congress' changing perception of professional sports, it has, on occasion, enacted legislation opposed by the leagues. Nevertheless, the political influence of club owners combined with the persistence of an idyllic image of sports within Congress make such instances rare.

The relationship between government & professional sports is analyzed by reviewing Congressional activity relative to professional sports during the period 1951-1978. During this time, nearly 300 pieces of sports legislation were proposed. Congressional concern with sports is explained by the impact of sports events such as franchise moves upon specific constituencies, & league-initiated requests for assistance. Conflicting perceptions in Congress of professional sports are explored, & a Congressionally defined right to access is identified & explained. It is concluded that due to Congress' changing perception of professional sports, it has on occasion, enacted legislation opposed by the leagues. Nevertheless, the political influence of club owners combined with the persistence of an idyllic image of sports within Congress make such instances rare. 3 Tables. HA.

The relationship between government and professional sports is analyzed by reviewing Congressional activity relative to professional sports during the period 1951-1978. During this time, nearly 300 pieces of sports legislation have been proposed. Congressional concern with sports is explained by the impact of sports events, such as franchise moves, upon specific constituencies, and league- initiated requests for assistance. Conflicting perceptions in Congress of professional sports as pure sport and big business help explain a change in Congress' posture toward the sports leagues. The politics of professional sports is explored, and a Congressionally defined right to access is identified and explained. The article concludes that due to Congress' changing perception of professional sports, it has, on occasion, enacted legislation opposed by the leagues. Nevertheless, the political influence of club owners combined with the persistence of an idyllic image of sports within Congress make such instances rare.

This timely book offers a critical interpretation of the traditional social and economic accounts of sport. It provides an incisive analysis of professional sport and defines alternative foundations to the present model. The authors demonstrate that professional sport is an extremely complex phenomenon encompassing many unique factors depending on its global reach, financing and organization

Professional sports teams have become very vocal, and often very successful, claimants for access to the public purse. Economics as a discipline usually relies on one of two possible explanations for government involvement in the economy: market failure and interest group theory. This thesis attempts to evaluate which of these two theories best explains the success of professional sports teams in attracting subsidies. Proponents of subsidization argue that teams are a positive externality and, therefore, a transfer from government will actually increase efficiency. Although the empirical work in this paper follows a very different methodology from previous efforts, the results are consistent with the prevailing consensus that sports do little to improve a region's economy. Interest group theory makes no claims about government intervention leading to increased efficiency, instead it argues that outcomes will be dependent on a political "market". While interest group theory has some explanatory power, it does not capture one crucial aspect of sports subsidization--team's ability to relocate. In an effort to improve on existing interest group theory, this thesis incorporates capital mobility into more traditional interest group theory. This adjustment gives firms and their lobby groups more power in the political process than thus far admitted in interest group theory and fits the trends and evidence in sports subsidization quite well. The conclusion is that sports subsidization should not be thought of in terms of welfare economic notions of a positive externality. but rather, as the result of a political outcome in whic the teams are well placed to receive public support from the government.

Modern professional sports leagues are significant economic enterprises, the most prominent of which span the political border between the United States and Canada. In recent decades, local governments in the United States have invested heavily in professional sports franchises by building stadiums and arenas, hoping either to prevent the home team from moving out or to entice someone else's home team to move in. The willingness to pay of U.S. local governments, coupled with apparently disadvantageous economic conditions in Canada, has resulted in a net loss of professional franchises for Canadian cities, in particular franchises in Canada's national game, hockey. This Note inquires whether this process harms Canadian investors in professional sports franchises in a way that implicates the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), specifically the Agreement's rules governing investment. Although there is a growing body of adjudications under NAFTA Chapter 11, U.S. local assistance to professional sports franchises has not, to date, been the subject of a claim. This inaction may result from the inertia of U.S. municipal investment in professional sports, the confusion created by the unique economic structure of the professional leagues, or the perception that the professional sports industry is somehow less worthy of attention. Based on a survey of the types of aid provided by local governments to professional franchises, the recent movements of teams in the three relevant leagues, and a close examination of the economic relationship between franchises in a single league, this Note argues that Chapter 11 is a potentially relevant, if overlooked, part of the regulatory landscape. After sketching a hypothetical claim under Chapter 11, the Note concludes with an examination of the NAFTA's Cultural Exception in light of the steady migration of National Hockey League franchises out of Canada.