Analysis of the Business of Sports

Analysis of the Business of Sports

Analysis of the Business of Sports

The business of sports is a progressing industry that has both positive aspects that are reflected deeply in society and negative ones that are displayed across the various leagues. Sports have been a part of human life for quite some time. It has gone from a leisure privilege to an organized sport, with leagues, teams, schedules, and rules. Originally, a sport was not a business. It was merely an activity to do to take your mind off of the day’s worries. It was done to promote family activity and exercise. Even though sports still have this primary purpose, it has developed a business sense as well.

The business of sports has developed different leagues and levels. The four professional leagues and the three sports levels display business strategies, organization, management, and funding. Money has become a large part of why a sport is played, leading this paper to explore the business of sports.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the business of sports and the different aspects related to the business, more specifically financial inequality and ethical issues. The paper will compare the two aspects in each level of sport: professional, collegiate, and Olympic. The paper will analyze and give examples of financial inequality and ethical issues and use it to reflect upon its analysis of business of sports.

Professional Sports

Professional Sports is a level of sport that has caught the public attention for many years. It is different than amateur sports in the fact that the athletes are paid for their performances. They are professionals and are supposed to be proficient in the game. The business aspect of it developed as mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences allowing sports organizations and teams to produce larger incomes. (Gilmore & Gilson,2007,p.409) Sports players have turned their talent into a professional career as they are able to devote time to training to increase their skills and physical condition. However, over time, the “idea of sport” has changed going from the love of the game to making the most money. As the idea has changed in professional sports, certain issues have arisen.

Financial Inequality

Since, the beginning of professional sports there has been financial inequality. Before the invention of television, the majority teams received their revenue from gate receipts. () The teams with the best players would have a higher attendance and thus having higher revenue. The four major leagues show a pattern of which franchise is the most valuable. For the past 20 years, the NBA has had seven different teams win NBA title. This is largely due to players wanting to jump on