football – Knowledge Problem

More Rule/market Design Recommendations for International Football-soccer

1 Comment / Economics, Professional sports / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Like Mike the other day, I have been thinking about possibly Pareto-improving rule changes in international soccer; like Richard Epstein I have always thought about sports rules (and league organization and market structure) as interesting market design issues. Take, for example, the unintended changes in ice hockey and American football after the introduction …

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Beckham’s Chances of Playing for England in the World Cup…

2 Comments / Humor, Professional sports / By Michael Giberson

Michael Giberson …must be about zero after he used the words “soccer ball” when clearly he meant “football.” See this video from South Africa ( highlighting the introduction of the new Adidas ball for World Cup 2010) at the 3:36 mark. Too much time in the States?

Football Helmets and Head Injuries

1 Comment / Economics, Professional sports / By Michael Giberson

Michael Giberson Paul Walker at Anti-Dismal sees the economic content in the recent Wall Street Journal article on football, helmets, and head injuries. Here’s a piece of the story: Why do football players wear helmets in the first place? And more important, could the helmets be part of the problem? “Some people have advocated for …

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College Football Playoffs and Other Ideas Mike Leach Likes

2 Comments / Professional sports / By Michael Giberson

Michael Giberson In the Wall Street Journal, an interview with Texas Tech University football coach Mike Leach: WSJ: You want a 64-team playoff system. That seems crazy. Mr. Leach: It’s only crazy if you are in Division I football. There’s nothing new about this playoff stuff. It would be like crediting me with inventing fire. …

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Friday Football Notes from Chris Dillow

2 Comments / Economics, Professional sports / By Michael Giberson

Michael Giberson At Stumbling and Mumbling Chris Dillow ruminates on “Norms, agency, and competition,” which is just some fancy econo-speak for a post about why football coaches prefer conventional strategies that reduce the chance of their team winning. Dillow notes David Romer’s work (via James Kwak) on American football, which shows coaches punt too often …

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