IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-09-00325.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Widely Received: Payoffs to Player Attributes in the NFL

Author

Listed:
  • Julianne Treme

    (University of North Carolina, Wilmington)

  • Samuel K. Allen

    (Virginia Military Institute)

Abstract

We examine wide receivers drafted into the NFL to assess what attributes explain draft rank and correspond to high salaries and performance in their first year in the league. We find that tangible measures of player quality are valuable signals. Consistent with expectations, faster and more accomplished college receivers are drafted earlier and earn more. However, we find no significant relationship between 40-yard dash times and first year performance for wide receivers. In addition, media exposure received by players prior to the draft is positively related to draft placement and higher earnings even after controlling for measured physical attributes.

Suggested Citation

  • Julianne Treme & Samuel K. Allen, 2009. "Widely Received: Payoffs to Player Attributes in the NFL," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(3), pages 1631-1643.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-09-00325
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2009/Volume29/EB-09-V29-I3-P11.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leif Brandes & Egon Franck & Stephan Nüesch, 2008. "Local Heroes and Superstars," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(3), pages 266-286, June.
    2. Victor Ginsburgh & David Throsby, 2006. "Handbook of the economics of art and culture," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/1673, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Adler, Moshe, 1985. "Stardom and Talent," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 208-212, March.
    4. Leif Brandes & Egon Franck & Stephan Nuesch, 2006. "Local Heroes and Superstars - An Empirical Analysis of Star Attraction in German Soccer," Working Papers 0007, University of Zurich, Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA), revised 2007.
    5. MacDonald, Glenn M, 1988. "The Economics of Rising Stars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 155-166, March.
    6. Wallace Hendricks & Lawrence DeBrock & Roger Koenker, 2003. "Uncertainty, Hiring, and Subsequent Performance: The NFL Draft," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(4), pages 857-886, October.
    7. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-858, December.
    8. Steven Albert, 1998. "Movie Stars and the Distribution of Financially Successful Films in the Motion Picture Industry," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 22(4), pages 249-270, December.
    9. Pedro Garcia-del-Barrio & Francesc Pujol, 2007. "Hidden monopsony rents in winner-take-all markets-sport and economic contribution of Spanish soccer players," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 57-70.
    10. Charles J. Mullin & Lucia F. Dunn, 2002. "Using Baseball Card Prices to Measure Star Quality and Monopsony," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(4), pages 620-632, October.
    11. Erik E. Lehmann & Günther G. Schulze, 2007. "What does it take to be a star? The role of performance and the media for German soccer players," Discussion Paper Series 1, Department of International Economic Policy, University of Freiburg, revised Mar 2008.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carrieri, V.; & Jones, A.M.; & Principe, F.;, 2018. "Health shocks and labour market outcomes: evidence from professional football," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 18/01, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Joshua D. Pitts & Brent Evans, 2019. "Drafting for Success: How Good Are NFL Teams at Identifying Future Productivity at Offensive-Skill Positions in the Draft?," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 64(1), pages 102-122, March.
    3. Julianne Treme & Samuel K. Allen, 2011. "Press Pass: Payoffs to Media Exposure Among National Football League (NFL) Wide Receivers," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(3), pages 370-390, June.
    4. Jeremy Rosen & Alexandre Olbrecht, 2020. "Data‐Driven Drafting: Applying Econometrics To Employ Quarterbacks," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(2), pages 313-326, April.
    5. 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.
    6. Henrickson, Kevin E. & Langrill, Ryan, 2013. "Spatial Econometrics In Nonspatial Settings," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 9(1-2), January.
    7. Vincenzo Carrieri & Francesco Principe & Michele Raitano, 2018. "What makes you ‘super-rich’? New evidence from an analysis of football players’ wages," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 950-973.
    8. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Principe, Francesco & Raitano, Michele, 2017. "What makes you "super-rich"? New evidence from an analysis of football players' earnings," Ruhr Economic Papers 681, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Vincenzo Carrieri & Andrew M. Jones & Francesco Principe, 2020. "Productivity Shocks and Labour Market Outcomes for Top Earners: Evidence from Italian Serie A," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(3), pages 549-576, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Julianne Treme & Samuel K. Allen, 2011. "Press Pass: Payoffs to Media Exposure Among National Football League (NFL) Wide Receivers," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 12(3), pages 370-390, June.
    2. Budzinski, Oliver & Kohlschreiber, Marie & Kuchinke, Björn & Pannicke, Julia, 2019. "Does music quality matter for audience voters in a music contest?," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 122, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    3. Carrieri, Vincenzo & Principe, Francesco & Raitano, Michele, 2017. "What makes you "super-rich"? New evidence from an analysis of football players' earnings," Ruhr Economic Papers 681, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    4. Budzinski, Oliver & Pannicke, Julia, 2017. "Does popularity matter in a TV song competition? Evidence from a national music contest," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 106, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    5. Daniel Högele & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2012. "The Influence of Superstars on Organizational Identification of External Stakeholders: Empirical Findings from Professional Soccer," CREMA Working Paper Series 2012-18, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    6. Daniel Högele & Sascha L. Schmidt & Benno Torgler, 2012. "The Influence of Superstars on Organizational Identification of External Stakeholders: Empirical Findings from Professional Soccer," CREMA Working Paper Series 2012-18, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    7. Müller, Oliver & Simons, Alexander & Weinmann, Markus, 2017. "Beyond crowd judgments: Data-driven estimation of market value in association football," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 263(2), pages 611-624.
    8. Vincenzo Carrieri & Francesco Principe & Michele Raitano, 2018. "What makes you ‘super-rich’? New evidence from an analysis of football players’ wages," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(4), pages 950-973.
    9. Kotrba, Vojtěch, 2019. "Direct preferences of sports fans: Is there a superstar effect in the fantasy league?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 89-97.
    10. Egon Franck & Stephan Nüesch, 2005. "Talent, Past Consumption and/or Popularity - Are German Soccer Celebrities Rosen or Adler Stars?," Working Papers 0005, University of Zurich, Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA), revised 2006.
    11. Brad R. Humphreys & Candon Johnson, 2020. "The Effect of Superstars on Game Attendance: Evidence From the NBA," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(2), pages 152-175, February.
    12. Julianne Treme, 2010. "Effects of Celebrity Media Exposure on Box-Office Performance," Journal of Media Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 5-16.
    13. Egon Franck & Stephan Nüesch, 2012. "Talent And/Or Popularity: What Does It Take To Be A Superstar?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 202-216, January.
    14. Francesco Angelini & Massimiliano Castellani, 2019. "Cultural and economic value: a critical review," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 173-188, June.
    15. Giovanni Bernardo & Massimo Ruberti & Roberto Verona, 2022. "Image is everything! Professional football players' visibility and wages: evidence from the Italian Serie A," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(5), pages 595-614, January.
    16. Leif Brandes & Egon Franck & Stephan Nuesch, 2006. "Local Heroes and Superstars - An Empirical Analysis of Star Attraction in German Soccer," Working Papers 0007, University of Zurich, Center for Research in Sports Administration (CRSA), revised 2007.
    17. Leif Brandes & Egon Franck & Stephan Nüesch, 2008. "Local Heroes and Superstars," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 9(3), pages 266-286, June.
    18. Hofmann, Julian & Schnittka, Oliver & Johnen, Marius & Kottemann, Pascal, 2021. "Talent or popularity: What drives market value and brand image for human brands?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 748-758.
    19. Budzinski, Oliver & Gänßle, Sophia & Lindstädt-Dreusicke, Nadine, 2021. "Wettbewerb und Antitrust in Unterhaltungsmärkten," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 147, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    20. Wen-Jhan Jane, 2016. "The Effect of Star Quality on Attendance Demand," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 17(4), pages 396-417, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sports Economics; NFL; Draft; Media;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-09-00325. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.