Sports Economics Debates

This past week in our Sports Economics class with Dr. Hilmer, we broke into groups of four and had debates about various topics central to the Southern California sports community. These topics included:

1- The NBA Age limit- Jeremy Tyler, a San Diego High School product decided to forgo his Senior Year of HIGH SCHOOL to play professionally overseas. The two sides debated the economic arguments for the NBA instituting an age limit for incoming rookies including potential effects on player salary, league revenue, social costs and benefits effects on sponsorships for players.

2- Should Owners be Able to Void MLB Contracts if players are caught using PED's?- The two groups debated the issue primarily because of the Manny Ramirez situation with the Dodgers. After signing a 2 year, $45 million contract, Manny was suspended 50 games (essentially 1/3 of the season) for being caught taking PED's. There's no doubt that this issue will become an even larger issue in sports media in the near future.

3- Should SDSU drop its football team or move to Division I-AA?- It's no secret that the SDSU football team has been losing money, might not have a place to play in a few years (Chargers Stadium Issue) and significantly impacts the rest of the SDSU sports landscape due to Title IX regulations. The two sides debated the pros and cons of keeping the football team at the Division I level. Arguments included the amount of civic pride or social welfare that exists on a University campus, the potential for a "Flutie Effect" if the program turns it around (larger, more qualified applicant pool) and how SDSU's President mandated an approximate $300 increase per student in student fees without a student vote to help offset the football program's operating losses.

4- Should the Mountain West Conference be a part of the BCS System?- Over the past decade MWC powerhouses Utah, BYU and TCU have been at a competitive disadvantage and potentially lose a significant amount of revenue because a certain number of spots in BCS Bowl Games are allocated to the Champions of D-1A's "Big Six" Conferences. Arguments in this debate included the strong record of these institutions in Bowl Games over the past few seasons, the significant amount of competitive imbalance in the MWC and the economic injustices that exist in the college football landscape.

Overall, a great job by all in a thought provoking exercise. We all look forward to round two of the sports economics debates in a couple of weeks.

Taylor G. Brown, Class of 2010