Bidding Till Bankrupt: Destructive Competition in Professional Team Sports

James D Whitney

Economic Inquiry, 1993, vol. 31, issue 1, 100-115

Abstract: The analysis and evidence here suggest that the market for star athletes in professional sports could be subject to "destructive competition"--a competitive process that drives some participants from a market even though it is inefficient for them to leave. When pursuing a league championship, the talent that turns an average team into a contender contributes disproportionately to the team's success. Teams that 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. Copyright 1993 by Oxford University Press.

Date: 1993
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