Professional Sport
Content Framework for BOTH Prompts
This is the final Discussion Questions essay you will write. For this paper, you will synthesize what you have learned across the modules/units into a position piece published by ESPN.
Now that you are an expert on the intricacies and gravity of issues around the organization of professional sport in the U.S., ESPN has commissioned you to write a freelance exposé on professional sport structures (i.e., monopolies, monopsonies, and subsidized) and the sport conveyer belt phenomenon (i.e., through the phases of participation and transition into leadership).
ESPN hired you because you have been informed on social issues in sport as they play out across many domains; thus, you have a complete, holistic understanding of how big-time sport in the U.S. culminates in the professional ranks (i.e., the conveyer belt). You understand the systems that athletes have come up through, and you are aware of the barriers and mechanisms of control that have shaped their careers.
Your exposé will be based on the conveyer belt phenomenon and how the treatment of athletes through the phases of sport should be righted for professional athletes through a redistribution of the monies in professional sport (i.e., from owners / decision-makers).
You will design your article around (a) an explanation of the conveyer belt phenomenon and how it affects the transition out of sport and (b) an explanation of the financial organization of professional sport as justification for enhanced athlete transition support services.
The article you write will read as a justification for league policies that force owners to redistribute some of their vast wealth into player development and services. Professional franchise owners and league decision-makers currently have little investment in player development and services (i.e., transition services) because there is limited or no financial incentive to change the status quo. There is little incentive to fund players’ psychosocial development outside of performance enhancement (Park, Lavallee, & Tod, 2013). Some argue that the current state of non-sport services offered to college and professional athletes is largely performative.
Prompt 1
Answer the following prompt:
Explain the conveyer belt phenomenon as illustrated through the Holstein et al. (2016) chapters.
Include in your explanation what you have learned about:
- The power imbalances between athletes and decision-makers at the youth, college, and pro levels that shape the pipeline of experiences of pro athletes (i.e., explain infantilization).
- How those power imbalances culminate in the issues around athletes’ transition out of sport (i.e., explain anomie and other transition/retirement issues).
Minimum Word Count Requirement: 300
Prompt 2
Answer both of the bulleted questions:
- Explain the finance structures in professional sport and enrichment through franchise ownership. In other words, explain how owners build and sustain their wealth around a professional franchise. Your explanation should include the tax and structural benefits (i.e., monopolistic, monopsonistic, and cartel-like setup of U.S. professional sport leagues) from which owners profit.
- Conclude your exposé with an argument for why the provisions for owners warrant expanded services for pro athletes.
Minimum Word Count Requirement: 300
