There are very few places that should mimic a pure competition of talent and different assets. However, when it comes to sports, there is only one American league where there there is such an oligopoly on talent: the NBA.
Unlike any other American sport, the NBA requires true chemistry, a substantial amount of team building. This is why the NBA's free agency period is arguably the most important of the year, even more so than their championships. It is the place where teams can prove themselves and allow the free flow of players throughout the league, in theory.
In its simplest form, a player that is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) has the opportunity to sign with any team they want. In this event, any team can make an offer to that player and attempt to add that player to their roster. What makes the NBA in its best form a pure competition is the idea that all teams have the same salary cap, and thus, all teams have an equal chance assuming caps are equal, to get any player available. It is in this very circumstances that allow the best athletes in the world to choose their destiny. Well. Almost.
Every team is ultimately never equal. There are a whole host of different kinds of reasons for why a player may choose to sign somewhere. Besides just the amount of money on a contract, location, teammates, coach, doctors, and so much more play a role in the final decision made by an athlete. It is for these reasons that many teams will have to make persistent pitches over the course of even months at a time for consideration. By contrast, some teams do not have to worry about marketing themselves because of their past history as a winning franchise.
All of these factors have contributed to the talent oligopoly that few teams have over the league. Most recently, ever since LeBron James created the first modern super-team in Miami in 2010, teams have been scrambling to assemble teams that clearly outmatch any others. What we have today are five teams that hold the majority of top-tier talent in the NBA: the Warriors, Celtics, Lakers, Rockets, and Thunder. These teams, comprised of core talent, great locations, and coaches. As a result, just like with Disney and Universal, the rest of the league truly suffers because of this market of players. And as alternate teams become less and less valued in the NBA, the pure competition nature of the nation's greatest sports league will never be the same.
Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2016/07/03/nba-free-agent-deals-show-economy-and-consumers-just-fine/#15a7b6036418
http://www.nba.com/free-agency-explained
This is a very interesting post Noah and I never thought of the NBA like this. I realized that this can be said about every other sports league with teams like the Chiefs, Rams, and Patriots running the NFL. However, I do think that how the draft is set up will always change the oligopoly so there isn't consistent teams at the top similar to other industries. Less talented teams have a better chance at receiving better players thus increasing their chance to find the next Lebron to bring their team to the next level.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post Noah and I never thought of the NBA like this. I realized that this can be said about every other sports league with teams like the Chiefs, Rams, and Patriots running the NFL. However, I do think that how the draft is set up will always change the oligopoly so there isn't consistent teams at the top similar to other industries. Less talented teams have a better chance at receiving better players thus increasing their chance to find the next Lebron to bring their team to the next level.