Sports Economics

Here is an interesting (at least to me since I am mentioned in it) article on the field of sports economics - Batter up! Sports economics takes the field. In the article, you will find a number of sports economics named, and some that we will encounter in my sports economics course, including the text for the course, The Wages of Wins. It also mentions some of my friends (David Berri, Aju Fenn, and others) and co-authors, such as Tom Priessing, who is a defensemen in the NHL.

As mentioned in the article above, we have received some very positive feedback such as Malcolm Gladwell's review in The New Yorker, a book review in Sports Illustrated, and some negative feedback, which is understandable given we are drawing conclusions that may not tie with the conventional wisdom. We also have been read by the President and CEO of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors.

Some reviewers of our book seemed to question why three academically trained economists (with all that fire power) would be researching sports. This is a question that I have been asked both directly and indirectly over a number of years, with the typical underlying premise that I am wasting my time or squandering the investment that I have received from society in researching sports as opposed to other economic questions. In a great article, David Berri - one of my co-authors and very good friend asks and answers why he researches sports. I could not have said it better.