This paper begins with a brief review of the evolution of the unique brand of Australian football and the development of a fully-professional and national Australian Football League (AFL) comprising 16 clubs from the Victorian Football League (VFL) formed in 1897. Analysis of clubs' finances and...

In the period following the introduction by the Australian Football League (AFL) of the team salary cap in 1985 and the player draft at the end of 1986, within-season competitive balance (measured by the seasonal distribution of team win percents) has increased. This paper continues the...

This paper analyzes the effects of a percentage-of-revenue salary cap in a team sports league with win-maximizing clubs and flexible talent supply. It shows that a percentage-of-revenue cap produces a more balanced league and decreases aggregate salary payments. Taking into account the...

Many major sports leagues are characterized by a combination of cross-subsidization mechanisms like revenue-sharing arrangements and payroll restrictions. Up to now, the effects of these policy tools have only been analyzed separately. This article provides a theoretical model of a team sports...

This paper examines the economic issues leading up to the 2011 NFL lockout and the resultant Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFLPA. The history of labor relations between the league and the union is presented. The league’s antitrust situation that led up to the 1993 CBA is discussed...

This paper investigates firm survival in professional football, arguing that the relegation and promotion system in football leagues is very similar to firm exits and entries in traditional goods and service markets. Empirically, we use a dataset containing information on how long football teams...

Sports leagues constitute one of the few examples of legally operating cartels. In this paper I examine how gate revenue sharing may serve to coordinate talent investments within these cartels. I show that sharing revenues has the potential to raise cartel profits, because it decreases the...

There is an on-going debate about the optimal degree of team solidarity in professional European soccer leagues. Support for a high degree of team solidarity has been coming from the theory of competitive balance. Within this theory, attendance has always been referred to as the endogenous...