David Berri
wagesofwins.bsky.social
David Berri
@wagesofwins.bsky.social

Professor of Economics at Southern Utah University.
The latest book is Slaying the Trolls.
Also author/co-author of
The Wages of Wins
Stumbling on Wins
https://www.davidberri.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Slaying-Trolls-Wrong-About-Sports/dp/B0D33VK9SN/ .. more

David J. Berri is a sports economist and professor of economics at Southern Utah University, known for his sometimes-controversial analysis of NBA basketball. He is a past president of the North American Association of Sports Economists, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics and The International Journal of Sport Finance. .. more

Economics 57%
Sociology 14%

I wish to be graded on the same curve the sports media gives volume shooters in basketball!

An internal Oxford University memo from 1456 was recently uncovered and it was shocking!

"The invention of the printing press spells the end of Oxford. Now that people can just read what teachers know, teachers aren't needed anymore. We had a great 360 year run!"

πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

Owners do not respect players in professional sports.
Part 14 billion!

What we see in the WNBA is just a continuation of what we have seen in men's sports in the past. And this is why you shouldn't believe the stories told by owners.
These new details from last summer's confrontation between Rob Manfred and Bryce Harper are absolutely insane.

MLB officials threatening players will "end up in a ditch" for disrespecting Manfred is outrageous behavior.

www.newsweek.com/sports/mlb/p...

Reposted by David J. Berri

These new details from last summer's confrontation between Rob Manfred and Bryce Harper are absolutely insane.

MLB officials threatening players will "end up in a ditch" for disrespecting Manfred is outrageous behavior.

www.newsweek.com/sports/mlb/p...

Reposted by David J. Berri

Cover just dropped. Coming in 2026 from Oxford University Press.

Excellent discussion from @seeratsohi.bsky.social i and @sportyprof.bsky.social connecting the history of the NBA to the current WNBA negotiations.

Yes, the NBA keeps repeating itself!

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Future of Women's Basketball: CBA Negotiations, Unrivaled, and Beyond
Podcast Episode Β· The Ringer WNBA Show Β· 10/30/2025 Β· 1h 1m
podcasts.apple.com

Two of the three major men's professional sports leagues don't seem to be attracting many more fans in the past ten years.
The average viewership for the NBA Finals and World Series over the last decade

Reposted by David J. Berri

The average viewership for the NBA Finals and World Series over the last decade

Reposted by David J. Berri

Great stuff here. An element of accounting typically ignored by ADs wishing to cut a sport for… other reasons.
www.sportico.com/leagues/coll...
This Private University Is Adding Sports to Make Moneyβ€”Again
Fairleigh Dickinson is adding men's fencing in an attempt to drive profit. It's a different type of accounting that includes paid tuition.
www.sportico.com

If your NFL or college football team lost this weekend, you should know your team has immense problems and they will probably never win again.

If your team won... they are probably winning a title soon.

Yes, this is a response to how sportswriters tend to cover every win and loss! πŸ˜‚

75 years is a very long time.

My prediction isn't particularly clever. It already looks like the WNBA has taken off. Seems obvious women's professional soccer will be the same.

By the end of the century, women's professional sports will be "obviously" a successful business.
Evidence that academics have been complaining about service roles for about 3000 years...

And this take is why you never invite an academic into the broadcasting booth. An entire night of "this event doesn't explain anything and much of what you see is random luck" probably would get pretty tedious at some point! πŸ˜‚

Imagine Will Smith doesn't quite get his foot down on home plate in the bottom of the 9th.

What story are you writing about the Dodgers now? Still a dynasty?

If your entire evaluation of this team depends on one step... well, maybe you need to think about your evaluation.

Now I want a Marvel multiverse movie where some hero just travels the multiverse to wherever their favorite team wins the championship each year!

And that is all they do!

Will Smith was a player the Dodgers acquired through the draft.

The fact he hit that home run proves the draft should be capped.

And Rojas -- who hit the tying home run -- was a player they traded for.

Trades also have to be capped.

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Okay... that is seriously funny!! Timing is very good!

By the end of the 21st century, we will be enjoying a 7th game in a World Series in professional women's softball and/or professional women's baseball.

And it will be just as big as this.

If the Dodgers win, the owners will call for a salary cap.

If the Dodgers lose, the owners will also call for a salary cap.

For the record... baseball doesn't need a salary cap!

www.thesling.org/major-league...
Major League Baseball Owners Are Agitating (Again) for a Salary Cap. This Isn’t Good News for Players. - The Sling
Why do owners want a salary cap? The spending by teams like the Dodgers does bid up the cost of free agents. If the league could cap spending, players would generally be cheaper. And that would transf...
www.thesling.org

Any sportswriter who tells us after this is over that the outcome of the World Series "proves" one team was better should be banned from analyzing anything ever again!

Or just have them replaced by an AI program that will be equally wrong! πŸ˜‚

The announcers say "What a game this has been"

My wife:
"What a day it has been. What a rare mood I'm in!"

She is maintaining her sense of humor as a Dodgers fan!!

And that gives us Game Seven.

Blue Jays ain't scoring 3 runs tonight, right?

Then again -- on the other hand -- economists tend to make bad predictions. So... never mind! πŸ˜‚

Reposted by David J. Berri

shoutouts in this piece include: @wagesofwins.bsky.social @theathletic.com @seeratsohi.bsky.social @thefrankiedlc.news & the entire OOYL discord channel of genius scholars

Okay... that last comment about the Dolphins was bullshit. Glad Al Michaels called it out. No one has suffered like fans of the Browns and Lions. Miami fans got to do more than be unhappy one year! πŸ˜‚

Reposted by David J. Berri

Would really be nice to have someone on who (a) doesnt feel restrained from pushing back fully by their business associations to WNBPA leaders and (b) has never been CEO of a major media organization.

They'll never do it but I salivate at the idea of @wagesofwins.bsky.social being sic'd on him

A lesson I teach in econ history is that history is not inevitable. As many historians note, it is often a series of accidents.

Had the Blue Jays won the 18-inning game, this series would now be over. If the Dodgers do end up winning, we should remember that.

I suspect most will not.

Reposted by David J. Berri

NEW: I spoke to fans & labor organizers about how WNBA fan solidarity could be a key part of the CBA negotiationsβ€”& why women's sports fans are uniquely positioned to support a work stoppage, should one be on the table.
fan solidarity could be the wnba players' secret weapon
fandom works differently in women's sports than it does in men'sβ€”and it skews much more pro-player than pro-owner.
www.thefrankiedlc.news

David Berri co-author of Slaying the Trolls (via Sports Business Journal):

β€œYou can’t be telling the women, it’s not profitable when we see the expansion fees. Because clearly to get the expansion fees, you had to say it was profitable.”

www.essentiallysports.com/wnba-basketb...
Caitlin Clark, Napheesa Collier & Others’ Lawyer Shares CBA Update Ahead of Upcoming Deadline – Report
With the deadline fast approaching Caitlin Clark and Co.'s lawyer at the WNBPA has shared a valuable update regarding the negotiations.
www.essentiallysports.com

AI will tell you that this is definitive proof that when Brad Paisley sings the national anthem at the World Series, you are going to extra innings.

That's what the data says. And no one should actually think about correlation vs. causation. Let AI do all your thinking!