Journal of Sports Economics current issue

In Memoriam: Gerald W. Scully (1941-2009)

Porter, P. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

Do Teams Always Lose to Win? Performance Incentives and the Player Draft in the Australian Football League

Borland, J., Chicu, M., Macdonald, R. D. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

This article examines whether the player draft used since 1986 in the Australian Football League has caused clubs to tank; that is, to seek to lose matches to obtain improved draft choices. A comparison of clubs’ performances in regular season matches played before and after introduction of the draft provides no evidence that clubs have engaged in tanking. The main potential explanations for the absence of tanking in the Australian Football League are the relatively low benefits to clubs from tanking and limited opportunities for them to engage in this behavior.

Uncertain Prospects: Rates of Return in the Baseball Draft

Burger, J. D., Walters, S. J. K. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

This study uses a unique data set and valuation method to quantify returns to teams in baseball’s high-stakes, high-risk amateur draft. Thanks to teams’ monopsony power over draftees and low-seniority players, payoffs on successful picks far outweigh losses on unsuccessful ones: the expected annual yield on the median first-round draftee is 44%. However, the pattern of returns is inconsistent with market efficiency. Expected yields are lower for high school draftees than collegians (36% vs. 57%), lower for pitchers than position players (34% vs. 52%), and decline for later-round long shots.

Selection Biases in Sports Markets

Gandelman, N. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

This article tests for the existence of two types of selection biases in sports markets. First, the better-educated players and players of higher socioeconomic background have better outside opportunities. If they decide to follow a professional soccer career, they must be truly good to compensate their higher opportunity costs. Second, if innate athletic talent is distributed equally among the population, we should not find any difference in the performance evaluation of White and non-White players. This potential difference provides a ‘‘market test’’ for discrimination. Using data on the Uruguayan Soccer League in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, we find evidence of these two types of selection biases. Our estimations show a positive relationship between education and performance, education and promotions, socioeconomic background and performance, socioeconomic background and promotions, and discrimination against non-White players in the national league but not with respect to international soccer markets.

Minority Status and Managerial Survival in Major League Baseball

Volz, B. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

The effect of minority status on managerial survival in Major League Baseball is analyzed using survival time analysis and data envelopment analysis. Efficiency scores based on team performance and player salary data from 1985 to 2006 are computed and included as covariates in a survival time analysis. It is shown that when controlling for performance and personal characteristics minorities are on average 9.6% points more likely to return the following season. Additionally, it is shown that winning percentage has no impact on managerial survival when efficiency is controlled for.

Reply to: Differences in the Success of NFL Coaches by Race: A Different Perspective

Madden, J. F., Ruther, M. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

Malone, Couch, and Barrett argue that a broader analysis of fired coaches, including adding in partial season fires, considering a wider range of causes of firing, and analyzing rehiring makes the results reported by Madden ‘‘disappear.’’ We show that Malone et al. have analyzed inaccurate data. When the data used by Malone et al. are corrected and their speculations tested empirically, Madden’s conclusion that analyses of all employment decisions involving head coaches between 1990 and 2002 are consistent with discrimination against African Americans is supported.

Book Review: The Business of Sports, edited by Brad R. Humphreys and Dennis R. Howard. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2008. 299 pp

Kelly, Y. J. — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

''College Sports in Recessionary Times: Assessing Challenges and Opportunities'': The Third Annual Scholarly Colloquium on Intercollegiate Athletics In Conjunction with the NCAA Annual Convention January 12th and 13th 2010 Atlanta, Georgia

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

Erratum

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:05:57 PDT

The article ‘‘Racial Integration of Coaching’’ (DOI: 10.1177/1527002508324271), by Brian L. Goff and Robert D. Tollison, published in April 2009 issue (Volume 10, Number 2) of Journal of Sports Economics, first paragraph on page 128, says correctly that Frank Robinson was the first black manager in major league baseball (MLB). However, it has the team and year wrong. Frank Robinson was hired by the Indians to be their player-manager in 1975, not by the Orioles in 1974. He managed the Orioles much later.