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Race and compensation in professional football

Author

Listed:
  • Mark Gius
  • Donn Johnson

Abstract

Although there have been numerous studies on the effect of race on the compensation of National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball players, there have been only three prior studies that investigated the effect of race on the compensation of National Football League (NFL) players. Two found no evidence of racial discrimination in NFL player compensation, while one found that, at most, whites earn on average 4% more than African-Americans. Using salary data for 938 NFL players from the 1996 season and player and market characteristic data from the 1995 season, a log-linear wage equation was estimated, and a Chow Test was performed. The results indicate that white players earned 10% less than African-American players. Other important factors affecting an NFL player's salary were experience, position, percentage of games started, and the draft status of the player. These results indicate that reverse wage discrimination based on race may exist in the NFL.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Gius & Donn Johnson, 2000. "Race and compensation in professional football," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 73-75.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:7:y:2000:i:2:p:73-75
    DOI: 10.1080/135048500351843
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lawrence M. Kahn, 1991. "Discrimination in Professional Sports: A Survey of the Literature," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 44(3), pages 395-418, April.
    2. Lawrence M. Kahn, 1992. "The Effects of Race on Professional Football Players' Compensation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(2), pages 295-310, January.
    3. Mark Gius & Donn Johnson, 1998. "An empirical investigation of wage discrimination in professional basketball," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(11), pages 703-705.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Janice Fanning Madden, 2004. "Differences in the Success of NFL Coaches by Race, 1990-2002," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 5(1), pages 6-19, February.
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    8. Brian D. Volz, 2017. "Race and Quarterback Survival in the National Football League," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(8), pages 850-866, December.
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    10. Johnny Ducking & Peter A. Groothuis & James Richard Hill, 2017. "Compensation Discrimination: an Analysis of Linebackers, Defensive Linemen, and Defensive Backs in the National Football League," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 251-260, December.
    11. Brian L. Goff & Robert D. Tollison, 2009. "Racial Integration of Coaching," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 10(2), pages 127-140, April.
    12. Johnny Ducking & Peter A. Groothuis, 2023. "Positional Segregation and Career Length in Major League Baseball in the 1990s," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 149-159, September.
    13. Saumik Paul & Ronita Mitra, 2008. "How predictable are the FIFA worldcup football outcomes? An empirical analysis," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(15), pages 1171-1176.
    14. Salaga, Steven & Juravich, Matthew, 2020. "National Football League head coach race, performance, retention, and dismissal," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 978-991.
    15. Reilly, Barry & Witt, Robert, 2011. "Disciplinary sanctions in English Premiership Football: Is there a racial dimension?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 360-370, June.
    16. Johnny Ducking & Peter Groothuis & James Hill, 2015. "Exit Discrimination in the NFL: A Duration Analysis of Career Length," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 285-299, September.
    17. Christopher Jepsen & Lisa Jepsen & Trevor Draisey & Josh Mahoney, 2021. "Race and National Football League Player Salaries After Controlling for Fantasy Statistics and Arrests," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(4), pages 359-386, May.
    18. Kendall Weir & Stephen Wu, 2014. "Criminal Records and the Labor Market for Professional Athletes," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 15(6), pages 617-635, December.
    19. Nancy J. Burnett & Lee James Van Scyoc, 2015. "Compensation Discrimination for Defensive Players," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(4), pages 375-389, May.
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    22. Ohn, Jonathan K. & Bealing, William & Waeger, Dan, 2012. "The Determinants of Annual Earnings for PGA Players Under the New PGA’s FedEx Cup System," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, May.

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