But the most thorough analysis of the root causes that have led us to where we are may be on a blog hosted by a group promoting Austrian School ideals.
(Don't worry, I had to look it up myself. Click here.)
In a two-part blog post, the author comments on everything from the rookie wage scale and public stadium financing to the league's stance on gambling and Roger Goodell's demagoguery. Through it all, the owners are roasted for being a staid, ineffectual billionaire boys' club riding a wave of unprecedented success created by the players, television networks and the public at large.
Via Mises Economic Blog:
The NFL produces three things: stadium debt, intellectual property, and bureaucracy. None of these things should be confused with “free market” values. The league is a prime example of what happens when you mix politically influential egos with easy credit and a media environment that largely promotes economic ignorance. You have the perfect boom business.
But all booms eventually end. NFL acolytes — and they are presently the majority — will insist, as Homer Simpson once did, that “everything lasts forever.” One media writer I correspond with insisted to me recently the NFL will be even more popular in 20 years then it is today. Go back to 1991 and think about all of the businesses you could have said that about, incorrectly, at that time.There was a time not long ago when sports was a separate entity from politics and economics. As the NFL and other leagues have continued to expand in both size and monetarily, they have started to intertwine with policy and finance. This is a fascinating read showing how all sides interconnect.
Behind the Lockout, Part I
Behind the Lockout, Part II
Turns out this could be as good an argument as the NFLPA could have hoped for. Maybe it can stop its members from taking shots at one another.
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