Economics of Sports panelists Randy Boyd (left), Jay Greeson and Dr. Brad R. Humphreys. Photo by Angela Foster.
The Wolford Family Athletics Center hosted a panel on Thursday, Feb. 6, to discuss the “Economics of Sports” at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Dr. Claudia Kramer, the Scott L. Probasco Jr. Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise, organized the event to highlight the influence economics has on the athletic landscape from amateur to professional sports.
“Economics is a way of thinking and it’s about problem solving,” Kramer said in her welcoming remarks. “Sports economists apply the economic way of thinking to anything and everything, including sports.”
She explained that to the economists, sports are seen through a market-driven lens.
“The economic way of thinking allows us to see sports not just as entertainment but as a competitive, complex market to be studied and understood.”
Dr. Robert Dooley, UTC’s interim chancellor, opened the panel with an introductory statement to the sold-out crowd and announced prizes for attendees like UTC women’s basketball tickets, a game-worn football jersey and a signed football.
“Sports are more than just games,” Dooley said. “They’re powerful economic engines that shape communities, influence markets and inspire millions. Today, we have the opportunity to explore the business side of sports with an exceptional panel of experts.”
Panelists included Randy Boyd, president of the University of Tennessee System and founder of Radio Systems Corporation, Boyd Sports and tnAchieves. Boyd Sports runs five teams, including the Tennessee Smokies, who are opening a new stadium in Knoxville this year.
Dr. Brad R. Humphreys, a professor of economics from the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, is the co-editor of “The Business of Sport,” a three-volume work on sports business, economics and finance.
Jay Greeson, a sportswriter and columnist at the Chattanooga Times Free Press, moderated the panel.
Dr. Claudia Kramer is the Scott L. Probasco Jr. Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise.
The topics ranged from collegiate athletes’ names, images and likenesses (NIL) to public funding of sports stadiums and their impact on surrounding communities.
Humphreys discussed why sports are an interesting area to observe these economic principles in action.
“The economy of sports is just a great laboratory,” Humphreys explained. “We can go and try to test our theories and understand how many of these economic models—which guide our thinking—hold up because we can measure so many interesting things in sports that we can’t in others.
“How do you figure out the marginal productivity of a lawyer? It’s really hard. How do you figure out the marginal productivity of a professional baseball player? It’s really easy, right? You observe their performance. That’s a really powerful laboratory for economists to apply our ideas.”
Boyd summarized the panel discussion by emphasizing three main points: professional and college sports are different, sports viewership and businesses are growing, and sports will continue to change.
His final point was to emphasize the importance of protecting the student-athletes who are playing for the universities.
“In everything that we do around the biggest sports,” Boyd said, “I want to make sure that we put the students first. That’s the most important. When we start that conversation, it needs to be about what’s in the best interest of the students and then working there.”
The Probasco Chair will host an “Economics and Etiquette” event on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Wolford Family Athletics Center. Nobel Laureate Vernon L. Smith and business etiquette coach Candace Smith will examine how economics and etiquette build a civil society.
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Economics of Sports photo gallery by Angela Foster
