Edwin Rosenberg's Simple Problems, Simple Solutions Summary

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Edwin Rosenberg’s Simple Problems, Simple Solutions articulates that sports leagues are composed of intrapartnership competition not interpartnership competition and as a result should be free from the influence of outside agencies, in particular the government and its antitrust regulations. He argues that it is in the league’s and teams’ best interests to maximize profits and therefore the league will regulate competition, as well as the number and location of franchises accordingly without the need for outside help. He states franchise movement as a prime example of this. Rosenberg does this by proposing the question: “Since there is no precedent of the government prohibiting a business from moving to a better market, why should a sports team be so enjoined?” (26). Essentially, Rosenberg is pointing out that if franchises are considered businesses they should be permitted to relocate to maximize profits just as any other business. And since franchises act in a way that is in their best interests financially they should not be subject to regulations from external entities. Additionally, Rosenberg claims that having a fixed number of teams in a league is good because having cities compete for the scarce resource of sports franchises is part of the free-market ideology. He continues by stating that for a market to work properly it must not …show more content…

The government’s lack of regulation in sports leagues: allowing mergers, entrance fees, and expansion control, has created monopolies that stop the free market (Grow). Decisions made by the owners who run the league are made in their interest not the public and there is no rival leagues of the same sport to combat

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