364. Inside the Sports-Industrial Complex

Freakonomics Radio

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Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 32K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2019

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For most of us, the athletes are what make sports interesting. But if you own the team or run the league, your players are essentially very expensive migrant workers who eat into your profits. We talk to N.F.L., N.B.A., and U.F.C. executives about labor costs, viewership numbers, legalized gambling, and the rise of e-sports. (Ep. 5 of “The Hidden Side of Sports” series.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	When you bleed and sweat and cry with somebody every day, you know, you get to be pretty close to them.
0:08.4	For me shooting a basketball and seeing it go through the net became just an obsession.
0:14.2	If you want something you have to be aggressive.
0:16.7	Yeah, we were awful.
0:18.2	When players were traded here they just couldn't wait to get out.
0:20.7	Oh, I care so deeply and I am not and it's stupid.
0:24.7	I have no idea why I care but I like winning.
0:27.0	And I distinctly remember thinking like I'm going to get better at this and I'm going to come back and I'm going to kick your ass someday.
0:36.0	I take eSports, yeah.
0:37.5	Buy eSports sell NFL.
0:43.0	You may recognize that voice.
0:45.0	Mark Cuban and I'm an entrepreneur.
0:47.0	Cuban is also a star of shark tank and owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.
0:52.0	When he said he would sell the NFL and take eSports.
0:56.0	I'd ask him to play a game of buy, sell or hold with three stocks.
1:01.0	The National Football League, the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC and a basket of eSports.
1:07.0	So why is Cuban selling the NFL, which is the most profitable sports league in the world?
1:13.0	I just think CTE creates a problem.
1:15.0	CTE being chronic, traumatic and cephalopathy or the brain damage associated with contact sports like football.
1:24.0	So participation has been dropping the last few years and will continue to drop more.
1:29.0	And you know, I have an eight year old son.
1:32.0	There's no way I'd let him play tackle football.
	...

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