ECON 590: Sports Economics

This course will investigate selected issues in sports from an economics perspective, with a focus on the major professional sports in North America as well as a discussion on college sports. The first part of the course covers the business operations of the sports franchises; in particular, the revenues and the costs of operating sports franchises, the market structure in sports leagues, and the benefits and costs of maintaining competitive balance.

The second part of the course addresses the economics of public financing towards the sports industry, focusing on the effects of sports franchise on the well-being of communities, the economics of public funding towards sports infrastructure, and the benefits and costs of mega sports events. Finally, the course explores the economics of the labor markets in professional and college sports; in particular, how salaries for professional athletes are determined, labor unions and free agencies in professional sports, the economics of racial and gender discrimination towards sports athletes, and issues pertaining to college athletes.

Please review the syllabus for full course information.

This is a Full Semester course. Participants may register for one Full Semester course OR one course each in Fall I and Fall II.

Related Courses by Institution
ECON 623 International Economics (Summer II 2021)
ECON 501 Microeconomics (Fall 2021)
ECON 502 Macroeconomics (Winter/Spring 2022)
ECON 590 Economics of COVID-19 (Summer I 2022)
ECON 590 Environmental Economics and Policy (Summer II 2022)
ECON 590 Sports Economics (Fall 2022)
ECON 590 Labor Economics (Winter/Spring 2023)
ECON 538 Economics of Financial Markets (Summer I 2023)
ECON 539 Money and Banking (Summer II 2023)