Major League Sports Research Articles

Quantifying the Performance of Professional Athletes Following Traumatic Tibial Fractures.

A tibial fracture is an uncommon, yet severe injury that occurs in professional athletes within all major sports leagues. These injuries are often debilitating for professional athletes and can require extensive rehabilitation prior to returning to play. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of a tibial fracture on athletic performance in all four major United States sports leagues. A publicly available professional sports database, Pro Sports Transactions, was queried for tibial injuries from January 01, 2015, to May 31, 2023. The search included all four major U.S. sports leagues. To quantify and compare athletic ability before and after injury, performance-based statistics were collected from standardized player ratings in periods surrounding the date of injury. The percent change in player performance was measured and stratified. The Pearson correlation test was used to analyze player demographics. There were a total of 24 professional athletes who suffered 28 confirmed tibial fractures across all leagues. Upon return, there was a 14.7% decrease in overall player performance across all leagues. National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League athletes had a decrease of 34.5%, 29.1%, and 14.2%, respectively, following their return to play. Major League Baseball players demonstrated an 8.1% increase in player performance following their recovery from tibial fracture. Players who suffer tibial fractures often undergo immediate surgery and, in unfortunate cases, may require multiple subsequent procedures. Additionally, athletes spend several months recovering prior to their return. Upon return, athletes' performance may be decreased; however, further study is required to strengthen the association between player performance and tibial fracture recovery.

Social equity and subsidies for Major League sports

Owners of major league franchises in the United States receive hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer support for their facilities. Proponents of these subsidies appeal to utilitarianism to justify their policy position, but social equity is a casualty of utilitarianism. In this article, we review the utilitarianism–social equity conflict within the context of major league subsidies. We review four areas where social inequities appear in subsidy debates: eminent domain, budgetary trade-offs, negative externalities, and community benefits agreements. Our hope is to bring increased awareness to the social equity aspects of subsidies to motivate empirical research.

The role of technology in United States' modern sports journalism

The article examines the role of technology in modern sports journalism in the USA. It describes how sports media are being modified under the influence of new technologies. And also the application of technologies in each of the four major sports leagues of the USA is considered separately. The object of study in the article is sports journalism in the USA. The subject of the study is the role of technology in modern journalism, which is further considered on the example of sports journalism in the USA. The purpose of the work is to study the impact of technology on modern sports journalism. The general scientific descriptive-analytical method and comparative method were used as the main research method. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that for the first time the role of technology in modern sports journalism in the USA is being investigated. New Internet platforms that help sports journalists collect analytical data are considered. It also describes the use of virtual and augmented reality in the major sports leagues of the United States of America. Technology plays a huge role in modern sports journalism in the USA. They not only allow you to expand the reach of the audience and create more accurate materials, but also provide new methods of interacting with readers. Journalists actively use innovations to be closer to their audience and give them new impressions.

A “toxic culture”: the experiences of underrepresented ticket sales employees across professional sport

PurposeThe purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the workplace experiences of current and former underrepresented ticket sales employees.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized survey methodology to answer the research questions. Purposive sampling was used to identify potential respondents: individuals who were either currently employed as sport ticket sales employees or had been previously. The researchers examined online media guides from North American major league sports teams and identified ticket sales representatives who were compiled into a database and then cross-referenced through social media platform LinkedIn. Individuals were located via LinkedIn profiles and sent an anonymous, electronic survey which included a combination of Likert scale and open-ended questions regarding respondent experiences working in ticket sales departments.FindingsSurvey responses from 511 ticket salespeople revealed negative experiences related to management and career advancement opportunities, as well as significant differences in negative experiences for underrepresented populations regarding mentorship and culture.Originality/valueSport sales managers desire to expand employee diversity (Wells et al., 2019) and improve overall retention rates, but if a clear understanding of organizational vision toward diversification is not established within sports teams, managers are less likely to embrace diversity initiatives. Thus, it is imperative to understand the lived experiences of underrepresented ticket salespeople in order to improve workplace culture and effectiveness.

The clash of capital behind the European Super League --- Comparative research on the organisational structure and the business models of European football leagues and the Major Professional Sports Leagues in the United States

In this study, in retrospection of the concurrent controversies surrounding the formation of the European Super League, the author seeks to uncover the rooted structural problems out of which arising the concerned disputes. With systematic review of existing literatures, the organisational structures and business models of professional sports leagues including European football leagues and US major sports leagues are comparatively analysed with reference to the measurement of organizational efficacy. Comparisons upon the organisational structures, business models and concerned sociocultural context behind the two sets of aforementioned sports leagues are included in the analytical sections. This paper finds that the design of business model and organisational structures of European football leagues and US major sports leagues are deeply influenced by the historical inheritance of the culturally formulated contexts. Functioning of the leagues, based on their incumbent models, dynamically reconstruct the cultural sphere of concerned leagues along the existing track predetermined by the past of the sports within the related societies.

Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta— and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports by Clayton Trutor

Reviewed by: Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta— and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports by Clayton Trutor Thomas Wolf Clayton Trutor. Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta— and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. 458 pp. Cloth, $34.95. In Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta—and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports Clayton Trutor offers a thorough and compelling study of Atlanta’s execution of a strategy to bring major league sports teams to the city in the mid-to- late 1960s. While Trutor’s comprehensive investigation and analysis tell the story of four different teams— the MLB Braves, the NFL Falcons, the NBA Hawks, and the NHL Flames—this review focuses primarily on the issues regarding the relocation of the Braves from Milwaukee to Atlanta. The Braves, of course, had already moved once—from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953, the first move by an MLB team from one city to another in fifty years. Especially in the early years, the Braves thrived in Milwaukee, and fans flocked to the ballpark. The Braves won the National League pennant in 1957 and 1958, powered by the hitting of Hank Aaron. The team led the league in [End Page 128] attendance six years in a row. In the early sixties, however, the team slumped, and attendance at games dropped by more than half. Braves owner Lou Perini decided to sell a majority interest in the team to a group of young investors in Chicago. Meanwhile in Atlanta, an alliance of politicians and business leaders— both white and Black— joined forces to bring a major league sports team to the city, either through expansion or relocation. The leader of that coalition was Ivan Allen, the recently elected mayor of Atlanta who had defeated segregationist Lester Maddox in Atlanta’s mayoral race in 1961. One of the goals of Allen and his cohorts was to promote Atlanta as a model city of the new South. Their slogan was “The City Too Busy to Hate.” They aimed to portray Atlanta as a haven of racial tolerance and economic prosperity. To attract a franchise, though, the city had to provide a venue for the new team, and building a suitable stadium was the next step in the plan. Trutor notes, “The primary benefits of cities investing in professional sports facilities come from the cultural prestige and source of common identity they lend to a metropolitan area” (51). Trutor details the issues involved in obtaining the funding for the stadium and deciding on a location. Ground was broken to construct Atlanta- Fulton County Stadium on April 15, 1964, while the city was still in the process of finding a team to occupy it. A year later a deal was struck to move the Milwaukee franchise to Atlanta. The city of Milwaukee was stunned that the team was being relocated, though the years of declining attendance and financial losses suffered by Perini might have been an indicator that a move was imminent, especially considering that the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants had pursued a similar strategy less than a decade earlier. Some players on the Braves— notably, Hank Aaron— had serious misgivings about being forced to relocate to Atlanta. Aaron expressed concern about his children being moved to a new school system. But Aaron’s concerns, not surprisingly, also reflected his trepidation about living and playing baseball in the South. “I lived in the South, and I don’t want to live there again,” Aaron told a reporter (84). Trutor describes the efforts made by civic leaders to convince Aaron and other skeptical players that Atlanta—the Atlanta of the mid- 1960s— was a hospitable place for African Americans. The Braves moved and played their first season in Atlanta in 1966. Public enthusiasm for the team was underwhelming. Fewer than three thousand season tickets were sold in anticipation of that first season (109), and although the roster was studded with stars like Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Rico Carty, Felipe Alou, and Joe Torre, the team finished a disappointing fifth in the National [End Page 129] League standings. Until the Braves won the NL West Division title in 1969, fan interest and attendance...

Do local businesses benefit from sports facilities? The case of major league sports stadiums and arenas

We use daily mobile foot traffic data covering major league sports facilities and the surrounding commercial establishments in the US to pin down the size and the spatial distribution of foot traffic spillovers from sports facilities to local businesses. By employing the fixed effects and the IV estimation strategies, we show that the spillover benefits are heterogeneous across sports and business sectors. We find that 100 baseball stadium visits generate roughly 29 visits to nearby food & accommodation businesses and about 6 visits to local retail establishments. While the estimates for football stadiums are comparable, basketball & hockey arenas do not appear to generate significant spillovers for the surrounding businesses.

A comparative analysis of sport and economic success through the example of top- and mid-ranking Hungarian water polo clubs

Abstract The biggest question of professional sports is how to compete successfully in the global economic framework, simultaneously in terms of the sport and in economic terms. As a result, in addition to indicators measuring sports-related effectiveness, the need for an economic analysis of sport has also emerged. Most academic research into the economic aspects of sports are related to the analysis of North American major league sports, as well as to European football. Water polo is also a spectator team sport, yet its economic analysis is almost entirely missing. In this article, we present an economic analysis of the operation of five men’s water polo teams – the top four teams in terms of the sports results and one from the mid-range – competing in the highest-level national championship in Hungary. Our aim is to determine, on the basis of the analysis of the data, the relationship between effectiveness in sports and the economic background of the teams. It can undoubtedly be concluded that, in addition to appropriate professional decisions, it is the economic situation of a club that has a clear impact on their effectiveness; in other words, up to a certain point, the more disposable funds and wider range of assets a sports company has, the more effectively it can prepare and the better results it will have in the various domestic and international championships and tournaments. CIT (corporate income tax benefits, “TAO” in Hungarian) support is fundamentally important in the field of youth sports development. While professional sports in Hungary are built on the development of junior players, there is still no clear link between the successfulness of the adult and the junior teams. The first-division teams of the clubs providing the best junior players are frequently in the mid-range or occasionally among the weakest teams in the national championship. Our research has shown that apart from the fact that some teams are extremely successful in the water polo championship, the outcome of many matches becomes quite predictable. Based on these, the uncertainty of the outcome is compromised, and the championship becomes less exciting and also loses some of its audience.

Teaching Experiential Data Analytics Using an Election Simulation

Data Analytics has grown dramatically in importance and in the level of business deployments in recent years. It is used across most functional areas and applications, some of the latter including market campaigns, detecting fraud, determining credit, identifying assembly line defects, health services and many others. Indeed, the realm of analytics has famously grown to include major league sports and even U.S. election campaigns. Universities have raced to include data analytics in their curricula as the need for data scientists has become more acute. Unfortunately, many data science courses in college curricula suffer from various deficiencies: some lack a hands-on component, others are insufficiently experiential, and yet others leave students with too few transferable skills. This article describes an experiential approach to teaching data analytics at the college level that uses an election simulation, MISSimulation.com—to communicate key data science concepts in a competitive setting. Many universities actively use the simulation, combined with analytic tools such as Tableau and Excel, to implement team competition. We explore key techniques used and knowledge learned during the typical teaching of a data analytics course using the simulation. We end with pedagogical review of data analytics skills transferred during the course and student feedback.

The Silence of the Fans: The Impact of Restricted Crowds on the Margin of Victory in the NBA

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of restricted crowds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the margin of victory of games in the NBA. Using 12,500 game-level observations from 11 NBA seasons from 2010/11 to 2020/21, the study first shows that during the COVID-19 season of 2020/21, games had a greater average margin of victory than any of the prior seasons. Regression results reveal that games played in front of restricted crowds were more likely to be won by a margin of 15, 20, or 25 points than games played in front of non-restricted crowds. The results indicate similar effects for games played in an empty arena or in front of a small crowd. Implications for the NBA and other major team sports leagues are discussed.

Shadow Stadia and the Circular Economy

Most attention on stadium or arena-anchored development projects is placed on the scope and construction of the new sports facility, while less emphasis is on the facility left behind, which we describe as shadow stadia. Some shadow stadia are repurposed for mixed use development, others are demolished but have delayed redevelopment plans, while some remain abandoned and empty for years after the professional sports team or event is no longer present in the facility. The environmental impacts of shadow stadia are not fully understood, as limited research exists on how the immediate neighborhood anchored by pre-existing venues cope in the shadows of these new development plans and the loss of a sport venue and its events. Green strategies such as the circular economy may extend the lifecycle of existing sport faciltiies. To contribute to this discussion further, this perspective article will first discuss current advances in the academic literature on the circular economy. Second, it will present a comprehensive categorization of shadow stadia globally and future opportunities on integrating circularity into best practices. By doing so, this perspective article highlights several areas of future investigation that should be considered and planned for when major league sports teams and city leaders move their team and build new facilities.

Greening Professional Sport: How Communicating the Fit, Proximity, and Impact of Sustainability Efforts Affects Fan Perceptions and Supportive Intentions

Grounded in multidisciplinary literature from public relations, sport communication, and marketing, this study examined consumer reactions to sustainability initiatives launched by major sports leagues. Through an online survey (N = 254), the results showed that sports league-cause fit resulted in more positive organization–public relationships (OPRs) such as through trust, commitment, satisfaction, and control mutuality. Further, the findings revealed that a closer geographic proximity of the sustainability initiative and an increased perceived impact (donation amount and number of beneficiaries affected) triggered higher perceptions of trust, organizational authenticity, and fandom toward the sponsoring sports league. Interestingly, a significant two-way interaction between spatial proximity and impact suggested that lower perceptions of the impact of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) program evoked more positive attitudes when involving local beneficiaries, whereas higher perceptions of impact improved organizational attitudes when the beneficiaries were located faraway. Lastly, the findings indicated that the OPR variables, especially trust, as well as fandom, and organizational authenticity elicited higher supportive intentions (e.g., support CSR cause, donate, volunteer, share on social media) toward the sports league. Theoretical implications for fit, construal level theory, and CSR impact as well as implications for sport communication practitioners are discussed.

COVID-19 Disruption Demonstrates Win-Win Climate Solutions for Major League Sports.

Unlike other greenhouse gas sources associated with professional sports, team air travel is highly visible, under direct league control, and extremely difficult to decarbonize with technological advancement alone. In an analysis of air travel emissions from the four largest North American sports leagues, I estimate that teams traveled a combined 7.5 million kilometers in 2018, generating nearly 122 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. But the 2020 season saw major declines in travel as teams and leagues adjusted for the pandemic. Scheduling changes with cobenefits for player health and performance were central to this strategy including increased sorting of schedules by region and more consecutive repeated games ("baseball-style" series). If the scheduling changes implemented in 2020 were maintained in future years, air travel emissions reductions of 22% each year could be expected. Additional reductions in air travel emissions could also be achieved by using more fuel-efficient aircraft and shortened regular seasons.

Review of COVID-19 Myocarditis in Competitive Athletes: Legitimate Concern or Fake News?

Since the first reported case of COVID-19 in December 2019, the global landscape has shifted toward an unrecognizable paradigm. The sports world has not been immune to these ramifications; all major sports leagues have had abbreviated seasons, fan attendance has been eradicated, and athletes have opted out of entire seasons. For these athletes, cardiovascular complications of COVID-19 are particularly concerning, as myocarditis has been implicated in a significant portion of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in athletes (up to 22%). Multiple studies have attempted to evaluate post-COVID myocarditis and develop consensus return-to-play (RTP) guidelines, which has led to conflicting information for internists and primary care doctors advising these athletes. We aim to review the pathophysiology and diagnosis of viral myocarditis, discuss the heterogeneity regarding incidence of COVID myocarditis among athletes, and summarize the current expert recommendations for RTP. The goal is to provide guidance for practitioners who will be managing and advising athletes in the COVID era.

No games to watch: empirical analysis of sport fans’ stress and coping strategies during COVID-19 lockdown

PurposeThe global outbreak of the COVID-19 forced most sport leagues to cancel games in March–April 2020, leaving no sport games to watch for sport fans. The present study examined how sport consumers appraise stress and engage in coping behaviors resulted from sport lockout due to the global pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study examined the relationship between sport fans’ psychological dispositions, threat appraisal and coping strategies among professional sport fans in the USA. A panel of sport fans (N = 446) representative of the US adult population participated in an online survey in the fourth week of April, 2020 when no major sport leagues made a return from the lockout due to the COVID-19 outbreak.FindingsResults of this present study showed that anger, aggressiveness and need for affiliation increased threat perceptions toward the COVID-19 lockout, which subsequently had significant effect on emotion-focused and disengagement coping behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsThis is the first empirical study that examined stress and coping behavior among sport fans in the global public health crisis context. Our findings show what triggers stress appraisals and how fans cope with them.Practical implicationsFindings suggest that segmenting sport fans based on psychological dispositions could be useful in predicting fans that will engage in coping behaviors.Social implicationsWhile the hope is to return to normal postpandemic, COVID-19 might not be the last. We are uncertain whether there might be another potential pandemic-related sport lockdown. Understanding how lack of sport events can create distress in sport fans and have important public health implications.Originality/valueThe findings provide empirical evidence on how sport consumers respond to the pandemic-related sport lockdown and cope with the unprecedented situation. The findings of this study contribute to the sport management literature as we are unsure whether the sport industry might face this challenging situation in the future again.

Return-to-Play Times and Player Performance After ACL Reconstruction in Elite UEFA Professional Soccer Players: A Matched-Cohort Analysis From 1999 to 2019.

Background:Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is one of the most common injuries afflicting soccer players and requires a lengthy recovery processes after reconstructive surgery. The impact of ACL reconstruction (ACLR) on return to play (RTP) time and player performance in professional soccer players remains poorly studied.Purpose/Hypothesis:To determine player performance and RTP rate and time after ACLR in elite professional soccer players with a retrospective matched-cohort analysis. We expected that the RTP time and rate will be similar to those of other professional-level athletes.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:Included were 51 players from 1 of the 5 elite Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) soccer leagues who suffered a complete ACL rupture between 1999 and 2019. These athletes were matched by position, age, season of injury, seasons played, and height and compared to uninjured control players. Change in performance metrics for the 4 years after the season of injury were compared with metrics 1 season before injury. Univariate 2-group comparisons were performed using independent 2-group t tests; Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used when normality of distributions was violated.Results:Overall, 41 players (80%) returned to play after ACL rupture, with 6 (12%) experiencing a subsequent ipsilateral or contralateral ACL tear. The mean (±SD) RTP time for soccer players after ACLR was 216 ± 109 days (26 ± 18 games). Injured athletes played significantly fewer games and minutes per season and recorded inferior performances for 2 seasons after their injury (P < .001). However, the game performance of injured players equaled or exceeded that of their matched controls by season 3 after injury, with the exception of attackers, who demonstrated a continued decline in performance (P < .001).Conclusion:Results indicated that the mean RTP time for soccer players after ACLR is short in comparison with other major sports leagues (216 days). However, RTP rates were high, and rerupture rates were comparable with those of other sports. With the exception of attackers, player performance largely equaled or exceeded that of matched controls by the third postinjury season.

From public goods theory to municipal capitalism: Evaluating investments in sport venues from an urban entrepreneurial perspective

ABSTRACT Using public goods theory as a guidepost, scholars have correctly observed that subsidies for sport venues are a product of the monopolistic structure of major sport leagues. Without challenging the observation that economic rent is being extracted from cities, we utilize the municipal capitalism framework to explore the ongoing appeal of teams to cities. We note that rising levels of economic segregation required local officials to aggressively pursue partnerships to offer competitive club goods that deflect regional economic activity into their taxing jurisdictions. After reviewing 116 published academic papers to establish the two frameworks (public goods and municipal capitalism), we use three previously studied case studies to assess outcomes in light of a municipal capitalism perspective. This permits us to provide insights into the use of various sources of public capital to deflect economic activity with the potential to enhance economic development and tax revenues. The work also identifies the need for additional research to compare and contrast classical public goods theory, municipal capitalism, and local government initiatives in an era of “fend for yourself federalism.”

Prevalence of Inflammatory Heart Disease Among Professional Athletes With Prior COVID-19 Infection Who Received Systematic Return-to-Play Cardiac Screening

The major North American professional sports leagues were among the first to return to full-scale sport activity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Given the unknown incidence of adverse cardiac sequelae after COVID-19 infection in athletes, these leagues implemented a conservative return-to-play (RTP) cardiac testing program aligned with American College of Cardiology recommendations for all athletes testing positive for COVID-19. To assess the prevalence of detectable inflammatory heart disease in professional athletes with prior COVID-19 infection, using current RTP screening recommendations. This cross-sectional study reviewed RTP cardiac testing performed between May and October 2020 on professional athletes who had tested positive for COVID-19. The professional sports leagues (Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Football League, and the men's and women's National Basketball Association) implemented mandatory cardiac screening requirements for all players who had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to resumption of team-organized sports activities. Troponin testing, electrocardiography (ECG), and resting echocardiography were performed after a positive COVID-19 test result. Interleague, deidentified cardiac data were pooled for collective analysis. Those with abnormal screening test results were referred for additional testing, including cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and/or stress echocardiography. The prevalence of abnormal RTP test results potentially representing COVID-19-associated cardiac injury, and results and outcomes of additional testing generated by the initial screening process. The study included 789 professional athletes (mean [SD] age, 25 [3] years; 777 men [98.5%]). A total of 460 athletes (58.3%) had prior symptomatic COVID-19 illness, and 329 (41.7%) were asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic (minimally symptomatic). Testing was performed a mean (SD) of 19 (17) days (range, 3-156 days) after a positive test result. Abnormal screening results were identified in 30 athletes (3.8%; troponin, 6 athletes [0.8%]; ECG, 10 athletes [1.3%]; echocardiography, 20 athletes [2.5%]), necessitating additional testing; 5 athletes (0.6%) ultimately had cardiac magnetic resonance imaging findings suggesting inflammatory heart disease (myocarditis, 3; pericarditis, 2) that resulted in restriction from play. No adverse cardiac events occurred in athletes who underwent cardiac screening and resumed professional sport participation. This study provides large-scale data assessing the prevalence of relevant COVID-19-associated cardiac pathology with implementation of current RTP screening recommendations. While long-term follow-up is ongoing, few cases of inflammatory heart disease have been detected, and a safe return to professional sports activity has thus far been achieved.

Racial Politics and the Presidency: Analyzing White House Visits by Professional Sports Teams

ObjectivesThis article investigates the impact of racial politics on White House visits by professional sports teams. Given increasing political polarization and varying racial compositions of major sports leagues, we hypothesize increased visits and objections over time while the prevalence of nonwhite players in a league detrimentally affects visits with Republican presidents and objections to visiting with them.MethodsUtilizing an original data set, we employ binary logistic regression to examine White House visits and objections by champions of six major professional sports leagues between 1993 and 2019.ResultsWe find (1) increased visits and objections over time; (2) a negative relationship between a league's nonwhite composition and the likelihood of a White House visit; and (3) a positive relationship between a league's nonwhite composition and objections to visits with Republican presidents.ConclusionsThis research provides a more nuanced understanding of how racial politics influences the relationship between the American presidency, society, and culture.

"Barbarians at the Ticket Gate": Private Equity's Arrival in American Sports Leagues

The year 2020 will stand out for many reasons in the world of American sports, but one of the most impactful developments may be also be one of the least discussed: the arrival of private equity into the United States&rsquo; major sports leagues. For decades, private equity firms have been barred from taking equity stakes of any kind&mdash;minority or majority&mdash;in most of the top-tier leagues. The few exceptions to this rule have been just that. Now, rule changes to several leagues&rsquo; bylaws allow for a new influx of private equity capital with more changes likely on the horizon. In this article, I make the case for why U.S. sports leagues should not only welcome the current inflow of private equity investment but also make additional permanent changes to league bylaws in order to encourage and expand future investment. Specifically, leagues should expand private equity investment to include opportunities for majority ownership. Welcoming private equity into American sports promises a number of broad benefits to current franchise owners and league executives: First, competition for teams&rsquo; minority ownership stakes will increase as bidding on those stakes is opened to up to the significantly larger pool of buyers represented by private equity funds. This, in turn, will lead to higher team and league valuations, benefitting current owners. Second, broadening the pool of potentials owners ensures that those allowed to buy in will be better fits with the franchises they join. Third, increased involvement with private equity funds will lead to innovation in deal structures, creating value in a historically inefficient industry. Fourth, private equity&rsquo;s involvement will improve governance and structure across American sports leagues. And, lastly, opening doors widely to private equity will reduce the threat that funds interested in sports might decide to compete directly with existing organizations. There are, of course, potential downsides to increasing funds&rsquo; involvement in sports. Most probable is public backlash against fund-led ownership groups, which the public are likely to perceive as being involved solely for the money as opposed to being in it for the love of the game. (And certainly funds will be in the game with a focus on profits.) This backlash could lead to increased calls for financial disclosures from team and league stakeholders. However, for reasons this article discusses, increased disclosure as a result of public ownership and trading of franchises seems likely to be in the cards regardless of whether private equity has a seat at the table. The article is organized into three main sections. The first section begins by exploring how private equity has both interacted with and been perceived by sports leagues in the United States prior to current developments. It then details the specific ways leagues&rsquo; recent organizational changes are inviting private equity investment and how managers of private capital have sprung into action to take advantage of these relaxed regulations. The role of the COVID-19 Pandemic in hastening and necessitating these changes is also briefly explored. The second section illustrates how private equity&rsquo;s much more active involvement in European sports provides specific evidence that it is a positive development for sports leagues and teams generally. Finally, in the last section I lay out how private equity developments in the European market are a basis both for predicting future changes to American sports leagues and for arguing why American leagues ought to allow for expanded participation by private equity firms.&lt;br&gt;