Contemporary Sports Issues – The Sport Journal

Restructuring NFL Ownership, A New Way Forward

Authors: R. Matthew Hedges¹, David Hughes²

¹School of Continuing Studies, Sports Industry Management, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA
²School of Continuing Studies, Sports Industry Management, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA

Corresponding Author:

R. Matthew Hedges, MPS
295 Durham St.
Unit F
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034
ramonmhedges@gmail.com
541-727-1008

¹R. Matthew Hedges, MPS, is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies and studied Sports Industry Management. In light of the current sports franchise ownership market and the lack of diversity thereof, Hedges’ interest includes finding a pathway to a more inclusive sports ownership structure.

²David C. Hughes, Ph.D., M.Ed., is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies. His specialties include esports, diversity, equity, and inclusion within sports management, and sports technology.

Restructuring NFL Ownership, A New Way Forward

ABSTRACT

Racial discrimination still exists in the NFL today. What has been referred to as a modern-day plantation, NFL franchises have insufficient diversity at the ownership level as well as in the top front office positions. NFL franchise owners have illimitable power and are averse to a 21^st-century progressive society. The league is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that is owned and operated by 32 franchise owners. Although the NFL is the behemoth of the sports industry, there are ingrained systemic issues. Instead of putting a band-aid on a bullet wound, the NFL must address the diversity concerns with strategic initiatives to overcome the deficiencies. A comprehensive top-down structural reformation is required to alter the ownership level. With the introduction of private equity funds, amending the Rooney Rule to include limited partners, and modifying the relationship between NFL franchises and their respective local governments, diversity within senior executives will advance. While the 32 owners have tightly held the reins of the league, a revolution must transpire.

Key Words: NFL Ownership, Diversity in the Workplace, Social Reform, Private Equity, Rooney Rule, Equal Opportunity

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Vandy Pacetti-Donelson2023-04-27T16:37:15-05:00April 28th, 2023|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Studies and Sports Psychology|Comments Off

Pay to Play in the NCAA: A Data Driven Playbook on How to Compensate Athletes

Author: Cameron Van, J.D.

Contributing Author:
Cameron Van, J.D.
University of California, Davis School of Law, Davis CA

400 Mrak Hall Drive, Davis, CA 95616
Email: Cevan@Ucdavis.edu
Phone Number: (650) 740-2235

Cameron Van is a recent UC Davis School of Law Graduate with a focus on the intersection of business and the law.

ABSTRACT

This article offers the NCAA a reputable, repeatable, and reasonable formula for a student-athlete revenue scheme that will ensure its competitive edge in an ever-encroaching market. The NCAA uses amateurism to restrict artificially the compensation of student athletes’ compensation to “cost of tuition,” at best. It is precisely this reason that more athletes are finding alternative ways to capitalize on their talents. As a result, this amateurism scheme is not Pareto Efficient. Pareto efficiency is reached when a situation cannot be modified in a way that would have one party better off without making another party worse off. Notably, Pareto efficiency does not imply equality, equity, or fairness, rather simply that there could be no economic changes that would better off the overall system. Here, this article explores a rare occurrence where the system can be made both more efficient and equal by increasing the supply of revenue generators – the athletes. This article will build upon Stocz formula for deriving a student-athlete’s salary, as well as give examples of what such a salary would look like for said athletes.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-07-16T11:29:28-05:00October 16th, 2020|Contemporary Sports Issues, Research|Comments Off

Aggressive Osteoblastoma of the Acetabulum in an 18-Year-Old Female Volleyball Player

Author: Tayleigh Talmadge MAT, ATC

Corresponding Author:
Valerie Moody PhD, LAT, ATC
32 Campus Dr. McGill 205
HHP Department
Missoula, MT 59812
406-243-2703 (office)
valerie.moody@umontana.edu

Tayleigh Talmadge is a recent graduate of the Masters in Athletic Training Program at the University of Montana. Valerie Moody is a Professor and Program Director of the Athletic Training Program at the University of Montana.

Aggressive Osteoblastoma of the Acetabulum in an 18-Year-Old Female Volleyball Player

Abstract

In a case study, an 18-year-old female volleyball player presented with persistent hip pain. Imaging revealed a lesion in the acetabulum and follow up biopsies led to the diagnosis of a benign osteoblastoma. The patient underwent a surgical resection and open reduction internal fixation of the acetabulum. Aggressive osteoblastomas of the acetabulum are rare in a young, active population; therefore, clinicians must be able to recognize the need to refer for further evaluation and understand the importance of a multidisciplinary individualized plan of care to ensure a successful return to play for the patient.

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U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-02T13:45:40-05:00October 25th, 2019|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Medicine|Comments Off

Building a Wall Against Refugees: The Refugee Olympic Team & American Politics

Authors: Travis Scheadler, Alan Ledford, Ph.D.

Corresponding Authors:
Travis Scheadler
tscheadler@wilmington.edu
(937) 751-5799
6811 Oakland Rd
Loveland, OH 45140
Wilmington College

Alan Ledford, Ph.D.
alan_ledford@wilmington.edu
(937) 481-2253
1870 Quaker Way
Pyle Box 1246
Wilmington, OH 45177
Wilmington College

Building a Wall: The Refugee Olympic Team & American Politics

ABSTRACT
In 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that 10 athletes would make up the new Refugee Olympic Team (ROT) for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio. The IOC formed the ROT to increase awareness for the refugee crisis and improve attitudes towards refugees. Google provided evidence that searches for “refugee” and other similar terms and phrases skyrocketed during the Olympic Games. The present study investigates the effect of the ROT on attitudes towards refugees. A two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analyzed the effects of the ROT and attendance at a refugee awareness event while another one-way MANOVA analyzed the effects of the Travel Ban. The lack of significant results stemming from the ROT media intervention may indicate that the ROT was not effective in changing attitudes towards refugees. Media toward the Travel Ban and the U.S. presidential election in 2016, however, may have had an impact as support for the Travel Ban was significantly related to prejudice, symbolic threat, realistic threat, empathy, and altruism. Although the ROT was meant to counteract negative media, the negative media may have been framed as more important than the ROT. These findings provide important data for further sport-for-peace interventions.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-06-06T08:51:16-05:00July 12th, 2018|Contemporary Sports Issues, Olympics|Comments Off

Organizational Expansion within Professional Sports

Author: Joseph Rozier III

Affiliations: United States Sports Academy

Corresponding Author:
Joseph R. Rozier III
Doctoral Student
United States Sports Academy
One Academy Drive
Daphne, Alabama 36526
jrrozier@students.ussa.edu
251-626-3303

Joseph Rozier III is currently a student at United States Sports Academy pursuing his doctoral degree in the field of sports management.

Organizational Expansion within Professional Sports

INTRODUCTION
As the popularity of professional sports continues to increase from year to year, commissioners, team owners, and other investors within professional sports leagues are continuously analyzing regional and international community markets to expand the league and his/her overall professional brand. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is currently one of the most recognizable and economically profitable professional sports leagues throughout domestic and international territories. It is due to this success, members of the NBA’s governing body are constantly analyzing the expansion of the NBA into new and former communities, regions and territories. Local and regional community support and the potential for business development opportunities, are essential external components which contribute to the possibility of expansion into a particular region. This paper is intended to review or analyze the positive and negative economic and social influences of the NBA’s potential decision for new expansion or relocation of another professional NBA franchise back into the Seattle, Washington community.
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U.S. Sports Academy2018-05-15T08:46:19-05:00June 14th, 2018|Contemporary Sports Issues, Sports Management|Comments Off