The Effect of Strikes and Lockouts on the Strength of Professional Sports Leagues

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2011-06

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The Ohio State University

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Abstract

Most, if not all, professional sports leagues have adopted an internal structure that provides much economic success, but that creates a division within each league composed of two sides: the owners of the teams and the players on those teams. Due to this division and the creation of goals that usually contrast with each other, there has long been strife between the two factions. In most cases both parties are able to come together and formulate an agreement, but on rare occasions one group decides that it is time to act on their dissatisfaction, anger, or even greed and refuse to participate in these negotiations. This generally leads to an owners’ lockout or a players’ strike, similar to those found in other industries. After an extensive meta-analysis, conducted using data and research from past sports strikes and lockouts, I have found that the effects of a work stoppage on the strength of a league is not uniform, that players salaries generally are negatively affected, and that players most often lose the most as a result.

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Strikes and Lockouts in Professional Sports

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