The need to win overtakes the economic common sense of professional sports team owners, thus creating the headline-grabbing salaries for athletes, suggested a alumni panel of professional sports representatives Friday, April 17, at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
"Nobody is holding a gun to the owners' heads [to] pay that much money," said Jeffrey Mishkin, JD '72, executive vice president of the National Basketball Association. "It's the need to win and the pressure from the fans for the team to win that drives these salaries. It's a star-driven system, and the numbers are getting ugly."
Mishkin likened the NBA salaries to those of other entertainers, such as Hollywood's biggest stars -- $20 million a flick for Tom Cruise, for instance.
National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman, a 1974 ILR alumnus, moderated the panel discussion as part of the ILR building dedication weekend activities.
During his comments, Bettman defended Florida Marlins owner Wayne Huizenga's move to dismantle his baseball team one year after paying huge salaries to bring a winner to Florida.
"It was a business decision," Bettman said. "He was trying to see if a winning team could attract fans, and it didn't."
Huizenga also owns a professional hockey team, the Florida Panthers.
On the subject of holding athletes more accountable for their off-the-field behavior, Buck Briggs '76, assistant general counsel for the National Football League, said a new clause in NFL players' contracts will cover violent behavior and domestic abuse. The clause will stipulate that players get treatment for their problems, with the harshest punishment being banishment from the league. Mishkin said the NBA would add marijuana to its list of controlled substances.
Panel members, who included a representative of major league soccer, attorney Robert Batterman, answered questions from the audience, including one from a student who asked Bettman what he was doing to keep professional hockey a viable business enterprise in Canada. Two hockey franchises have relocated to the United States to escape Canada's high taxes.
Bettman said he is meeting with Canadian officials later this month to urge them to consider tax breaks for the hockey teams.
"We don't want to lose any more Canadian teams," Bettman said. "Canada is fundamental to our game. Sixty percent of the hockey players in our league are Canadian."
| Cornell Chronicle Front Page | | Table of Contents | | Cornell News Service Home Page |