reshaped the economics of stadium financing and have created the modern sports welfare system (Laing, 1996, p. 23). First, as a result of court rulings and labor confrontations, players have secured expanded rights to sell their skills to the highest bidder. "Free agency" has become a slogan to describe a process whereby players' salaries sharply escalated. While many of us grew to adulthood amazed that Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, or Henry Aaron could earn $100,000 by playing a game, suddenly $100,000 became "chump change."
Multimillion-dollar contracts are now the expected norm for star players, and even average players command extraordinary salaries. By 1993, at least 18 players had contracts and endorsements that guaranteed them an annual income of $6 million or more. Each of these players had contracts with their teams for no less than $3 million in annual pay. In 1995, the minimum salary for players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) was $200,000, and the average salary in the National Hockey
...