The MLBPA's Communications Dilemma

For nearly a century, owners of U.S. professional sports teams have lobbied respective governmental bodies for public subsidies to build stadiums and arenas across the country, using franchise relocation as leverage. Myriad justifications have been used as a defense for the public subsidization of this private enterprise, ranging from the economic impact of capital intensive projects to the psychic regional benefit of being a host city to a professional sports franchise. But do these justifications hold up under increased scrutiny? In this case, students are placed in the position of the Mayor of Oakland as she is faced with a dilemma regarding publicly subsidizing a new Raiders stadium. Students will examine the issue through the lens of multiple key stakeholders, and will ultimately have to decide whether the city should utilize public funds to keep the Davis family happy and the Raiders in Oakland, or withhold funding for public good and risk the franchise relocating elsewhere.

Throughout the 20th century, football grew to be America's new pastime - and as the sport's popularity grew, so did the NFL's fortunes. From early league leadership to the Pete Rozelle era, the NFL successfully warded off rival league challengers and became the preeminent economic juggernaut of the American sports landscape. But as the NFL's financial dominance has grown, so has its risk exposure to certain elements of its 20th century business model. In this case, students will work to understand the NFL's monopolistic business model and how it has fueled the NFL's financial windfalls over the past several decades. Students will also gain an understanding of the history of rival football leagues in America in order to analyze the question facing the modern NFL management team: is its business model vulnerable to disruption by a handful of well-funded rival leagues set to start play in 2019?

Every year, the proverbial “Hot Stove League” in baseball’s off-season prompts myriad headlines about outsized player contracts. But do these nominal values tell the whole story? In this case, students will be tasked with representing a fictional baseball player, Rolando Mateo, as he works his way through his first free agent negotiation. By drawing on fundamental concepts of the time value of money and balancing qualitative considerations with quantitative analyses, students will work to rank Mateo’s offers—and provide their client with a final recommendation for his path forward.

While some believe that managers generally operate under one distinct style of leadership, research has revealed that most successful leaders can shift between six styles of leadership in order to foster an optimal organizational climate. These styles can be used in different environments, and are spotlighted in this case as students are presented with contextual evidence of leadership styles from the sports industry. While reviewing six sport leaders, from commissioners to coaches to media executives, students will work through leadership typology and think critically about purposeful strategies to improve organizational behavior.