Why Professional Sports Needs a Salary Cap

           In today's world, laws are constantly made to prevent the rich from getting richer and the poor from getting poorer. While most groups are achieving in this goal an area that lags behind is professional sports. In some sports leagues there is no salary cap, meaning teams can spend at their free will to sign the players they want. This allows bigger, more profitable teams to outbid smaller teams for the best players, a system like this has allowed the New York Yankees to pay Alex Rodriguez, one of the top players in baseball $33 million while the San Diego Padres spent $38 million on their entire staff in 2011, according to bleacherreport.com

courtesy of blog.lohas.com

          Historically, athletes tended to stay with one team their entire career whether the team was good or bad; it is only recently that players change teams via free agency. Unless there is a salary cap larger teams will induce free will spending and will eliminate the competitive balance in sports. (a salary cap is when the league puts a limit on how much teams can spend on players)
           In addition, without a salary cap smaller teams will be unable to fill their stadiums with fans as well as compete with other sports teams within the same town or market. With minimum salary players teams in smaller markets have trouble attracting fans as they fail to put a competitive product on the field due to a lack of funds. In baseball for example, the Pittsburgh Pirates, a small market MLB team, not only have to try to compete with the rest of the league with minimum money but also teams in their own city such as the Steelers and Penguins (both successful and profitable teams in their respective sports).
            In final analysis, in order to preserve the competitive nature as well as make sure all teams in all sports make a profit professional sports leagues need salary caps. Clearly salary caps are a much needed part of professional sports and without them it would eliminate what all Americans love about sports, a true underdog story.

Concussions Change Perception of Contact Sports

(co-written with Sean Halsey)

Recently, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide after a strenuous battle with depression. Studies on Seau’s brain showed that he suffered from sever brain damage. Multiple concussions that he suffered during his illustrious 19-year career led to his brain damage. This tragic loss has parents across America questioning whether they will allow their own kids to participate in contact sports.

            “I do not want my sons playing football” said Joe Dennis, camp director of Grady Glee, “Just because it is such a brutal sport, its different for adults to play than developing children.” Parents across the nation agree with Dennis’ point of view as a recent study done by the National Sporting Goods Association states the overall participation in youth football is significantly dropping by the year.

courtesy of networlddirectory.com

            While the level of concern rises, the athletes that play the sports seem to be taking a different approach. A study by ESPN showed that 54 percent of players would play a game with a concussion if it was the championship game, and 46 percent said playing is worth the risk of injuries if it meant they could play in the NFL. “The concussion issue is huge but I don’t see a solution,” said Chad Ryhm, a former football player and sophomore at Clarke Central High School. He believes that if a player truly loves the game then it is worth the risks involved.

            At all levels, sporting leagues continue to attempt to make the game safer for their players. To make the game safer, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has implemented a concussion policy in which several athletic leagues follow. In Georgia, all high school student-athletes are required to take a series of test called the IMPACT test. IMPACT measures that athletes brain activity, and how likely they are to receive a concussion. If a player does not pass IMPACT, they will not be physically cleared to play.

While correct tests and policies contribute to safer games and matches, so do equipment improvements. Football helmets like Russell’s Revo Speed can contribute to safer equipment. The Revo Speed helmet is the first helmet design using energy managing materials and a facemask attachment system that disperses energy of frontal impacts. Even with attempts to make the game safe, parents like Dr. Welch Suggs, a sports journalist at Grady College said,  “This is a really scary area, I feel there is too great of a risk to allow my own son to play.” 

Pay for Play?

courtesy of georgiasports.blogspot.com 

         NCAA college-athletes are supposed to be students first and amateur athletes second, but after recent billion dollar deals the NCAA has signed with TV networks people are beginning to question whether these athletes deserve a piece of the pie.

            The NCAA created the term “student-athlete” on the basis that athletes are playing for the love of the game and for college expenses, but now there is a fueled debate as to whether that is enough.

            When Turner Broadcasting signed a 10.8 billion dollar deal with the NCAA critics started to asked questions.

            Deals like this have journalists including Fab Five member and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose calling for the NCAA to split some of the revenue with the athletes who make it possible.

            Along with journalists, college coaches and deans of schools support a stipend system for college athletes. Recently, at the SEC football meetings, the coaches voted unanimously 14-0 in favor of paying college athletes with South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier and University of Georgia’s Mark Richt leading the campaign. Cully Clark, Dean of UGA’s Grady School of Journalism, supports the idea of paying college athletes and has an idea of his own. “Most of the athletes are so obligated they do not have work opportunities,” he said. He believes revenue-making athletes should get paid the equivalent of a summer working opportunity. 

            The debate over pay-for-play also affects high school students who are considering playing college sports. Sean McBride, a rising senior baseball player at Peachtree Ridge High School, currently works at Kroger, which can interfere with his baseball training. “I would definitely play college baseball if I got paid but if I didn’t, having a job could prevent me from playing” he said.

            The NCAA has proposed a $2,000 stipend for college athletes, but according to Grady’s sports journalist, Dr. Welch Suggs, the college game is far from changing and he is skeptical as to whether change will occur at all. “It would truly turn the college game on it’s head” he said, “To pay college players would take a massive change and most schools could not afford that change.”