ECW2450 - Sports economics

Leader: Dr. Ross Booth

Offered

Peninsula Second semester 2007 (Day)

Synopsis

This unit will cover: the demand for sport, sports revenues, the economics of sports broadcasting, the pricing of sports events; why professional team sports leagues form, whether clubs are profit-maximisers or win-maximisers, remedies for competitive imbalance such as player drafts, salary caps and revenue sharing, the role of player associations in professional sport; government subsidies in sport, the economic impact of sports events, stadium financing; case studies of professional team sports leagues in Australia, North America and Europe; the effect of competition policy, globalisation in professional sport, future directions in sport.

Objectives

On completion of this subject students will have:

• Identified the 'peculiar' characteristics of sports markets and the relevant policy prescriptions that follow.
• Gained an understanding of the role of economic incentives in determining the behaviour of the various stakeholders - controlling bodies and leagues, clubs/teams, players, fans, sponsors, the media and the government - in determining outcomes in different sports markets.
• Acquired knowledge of the nature of several specific sports markets in Australia and overseas, and of the relative merits of different approaches to solving contemporary problems in those sports markets.

Assessment

Mid-semester test: 20%
Individual class paper: 20% Tutorial participation: 10%
Examination (2 hours): 50%

Contact hours

Three contact hours per week

Prerequisites

ECW1101

Prohibitions

ECC2450, ECF2450