Professional Sports Industry: Examining the Popularity of NFL Franchise Indianapolis Colts, as Well as Other Sports Franchises

Professional sports comprise of an enormous and complex industry. Subdivided into their respective sports and leagues, individual franchises act as independent businesses. The collective goal of these businesses is to provide a product that consumers will seek to purchase. In the case of a football team, for example, the Indianapolis Colts represent a business, and football is the product that they sell. Not all football, however, is so eagerly consumed. The Arena Football League recently disbanded after 21 years of selling its brand of football. Struggling to generate revenue, its teams were forced out of business. Meanwhile, the aforementioned Colts, a subsidiary of the thriving National Football League, are selling a product of immense popularity. Officially licensed Indianapolis Colts merchandise sells in abundance, and tickets to home games at Lucas Oil Stadium are sold out so media purchase broadcast rights and bring games directly to the televisions and radios of the consumers. The Colts’ popularity generates a seemingly endless stream of revenue, establishing theirs as a successful business, indeed. In essence an NFL franchise like the Indianapolis Colts and an AFL franchise like the former Chicago Rush sell the same product: football. The great disparity in success that exists between the two companies is explained simply by the quality of their respective products – the team and, more specifically, the players and coaches that make up the team.

Athletes are, in most cases, not business people. And yet they find themselves working in an extremely lucrative industry. Specific players are more important to a franchise’s product than others, but each component of a team deserves fair compensation. Greatly su...

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...public relations departments to bolster their image, teams of highly trained agents working together to solve problems or answer questions, and maybe even a ride on the agency’s private jet.

With such outstanding profits being accumulated at the heights of professional athletics, it makes sense to award those athletes who have helped generate such figures. And given the unusual nature of non-businesspeople holding such integral parts within an extremely lucrative business, the role of the sports agent has become necessary for the fair treatment and compensation of pro athletes. An athlete’s foremost job is to compete, but his responsibilities as a public figure and businessperson extend far beyond simply athletic competition. We ask a lot of our athletes, perhaps more than they can realistically handle by themselves. Therein lies the role of the sports agent.