The latest issue of the Journal of Sports Economics is hot off the presses. I have subscribed to the journal for the past two years and always find 1-2 interesting articles to read each issue. The February 2010 issue is no exception. Anyone who is interested in sports economics should consider it a “must read.” Abstracts for each article can be found here.
The NBA’s minimum age rule was the target of criticism earlier this week by Arne Duncan, the US Secretary of Education. His pointed comments can be found here. A follow-up op-ed on Huffington Post was penned by Arn Tellem. Tellem’s op-ed can be found here. Both columns are interesting reads and have garnered a fair amount of press coverage. Tellem’s op-ed includes the following sentence:
“In the predominantly white games of golf, tennis or soccer, no such [minimum] age rule has been proposed.”
I am at a loss to explain the foregoing sentence, as the WTA Tour (women’s professional tennis), LPGA Tour (women’s professional golf), and the ATP World Tour (men’s professional tennis) all have age eligibility rules. The PGA Tour (men’s professional tennis) may have a similar rule as well…I will have to check.
The Baltimore Sun provides an update on sports wagering in Delaware here. Whether other states, especially neighbors such as Maryland and/or New Jersey will try to follow suit remains an interesting related story.
David Biderman has a clever article in the Wall Street Journal on the economic efficiency of three point shooting specialists in the NBA. The article can be found here. An interesting sequel would be how the proliferation of three point specialists (and increased three point shot attempts) has dampened the utility of mid-range jump shots.
I am flying to DC next week in order to attend U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in the case of American Needle v. NFL. At issue is whether the NFL should be considered a “single entity” under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The argument is at 10:00AM on January 13, 2010. After oral arguments, I will post my thoughts on this blog. I will also write a short article about the case for Sports Litigation Alert.
If anyone else is going to attend, please let me know. I will be standing in line with other members of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. It should be interesting!