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BIDDING TILL BANKRUPT DESTRUCTIVE COMPETITION IN PROFESSIONAL TEAM SPORTS
Author(s) -
WHITNEY JAMES D.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1993.tb00869.x
Subject(s) - championship , competition (biology) , rivalry , league , bidding , economics , athletes , business , microeconomics , advertising , physics , astronomy , medicine , ecology , biology , physical therapy
The analysis and evidence here suggest that the market for star athletes in professional sports could be subject to “destructive competition”—a competitive process which drives some participants from a market even though it is inefficient for them to leave. When pursuing a league championship, the talent which turns an average team into a contender contributes disproportionately to the team's success. Teams which fail to earn enough on the last stars they sign to offset losses on their inframarginal talent will abandon a competitive market for star athletes. Other situations that involve input rivalry between producers might yield similar results.