"...Freakonomics meets ESPN."

—Alan Schwarz, author, The Numbers Game

Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport
David Berri, Martin Schmidt, and Stacey Brook

 

 

 

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Detailed Table of Contents

Preface Excerpt

Chapter 1 Excerpt

Chapter 2 Excerpt

Chapter 3 Excerpt

Chapter 4 Excerpt

Chapter 5 Excerpt

Chapter 6 Excerpt

Chapter 7 Excerpt

Chapter 8 Excerpt

Chapter 9 Excerpt

Chapter 10 Excerpt

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One: Games With Numbers

 

from The Conventional Wisdom, p. 6

 

An abundance of “conventional wisdom” can be found in sports. Here is a “Top-Ten” list drawn from our research into the economics of sports.

 

  1. The teams that pay the most, win the most. In other words, sports teams can buy the fans’ love.
  2. Labor disputes threaten the future of professional sports.
  3. Major League Baseball has a competitive balance problem.
  4. A league’s competitive balance is determined by league policy.
  5. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams need “stars” to attract the fans.
  6. The best players in basketball score the most.
  7. The best players in basketball make their teammates more productive.
  8. The best players in basketball play their best in the playoffs.
  9. Quarterbacks should be credited with wins and losses in the National Football League.
  10. If we understand a quarterback’s past performance we can predict his future productivity.

 

For sports fans most, if not all, of these ideas should be familiar. Players, coaches, and members of the media recite these lines often in the discussion of professional sports. Beyond being representative of conventional wisdom, what else do these ideas have in common? Those numbers we spoke of previously suggest that all of these ideas are not quite true.

 

Excerpts (c) 2006 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Jr. University.  No further use, reproduction or distribution of this material is allowed without the written permission of the publisher.

 

Chapter Two Excerpt