Behold my multi-multimedia strategy
My master plan to dominate all most some media came to fruition today. First there was the bloggingheads diavlog with the Washington Post‘s Glenn Kessler. Next came my commentary for NPR’s Marketplace in which I do the unthinkable…. I defend the right of superagent Scott Boras to exist: If baseball is the national pastime, then ...
My master plan to dominate all most some media came to fruition today. First there was the bloggingheads diavlog with the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler. Next came my commentary for NPR's Marketplace in which I do the unthinkable.... I defend the right of superagent Scott Boras to exist: If baseball is the national pastime, then bashing agents for greed comes in a close second. Before declaring Boras guilty, however, consider the following figures. This year Major Lleague Baseball announced that it had topped $6 billion in revenues for the first time ever. At the same time, the share of those revenues going to player salaries has declined over the past six years, from more than 56 percent to less than 42 percent. In contrast, the National Football League paid their players more than half of its total revenues. At a time when baseball is economically flush, its players are getting a smaller slice of the pie. A key goal for agents is to get as much money for their clients as possible, and everyone acknowledges that Boras excels at this task. Blaming him for trying to get market value for his players is like blaming Will Smith's agent for getting him over $25 million per film. For some background on the Boras commentary, check out Ben McGrath's profile of Boras in The New Yorker, David Pinto's excellent analysis of how baseball was keeping down its costs in The Sporting News; and Tyler Kepner's New York Times story on Boras' corporation. Finally, and most important, the special issue of Public Choice on the politics blogs -- co-edited by Henry Farrell and myself -- is now available online. That's enough media for today. I'm turning in.
My master plan to dominate all most some media came to fruition today. First there was the bloggingheads diavlog with the Washington Post‘s Glenn Kessler. Next came my commentary for NPR’s Marketplace in which I do the unthinkable…. I defend the right of superagent Scott Boras to exist:
If baseball is the national pastime, then bashing agents for greed comes in a close second. Before declaring Boras guilty, however, consider the following figures. This year Major Lleague Baseball announced that it had topped $6 billion in revenues for the first time ever. At the same time, the share of those revenues going to player salaries has declined over the past six years, from more than 56 percent to less than 42 percent. In contrast, the National Football League paid their players more than half of its total revenues. At a time when baseball is economically flush, its players are getting a smaller slice of the pie. A key goal for agents is to get as much money for their clients as possible, and everyone acknowledges that Boras excels at this task. Blaming him for trying to get market value for his players is like blaming Will Smith’s agent for getting him over $25 million per film.
For some background on the Boras commentary, check out Ben McGrath’s profile of Boras in The New Yorker, David Pinto’s excellent analysis of how baseball was keeping down its costs in The Sporting News; and Tyler Kepner’s New York Times story on Boras’ corporation. Finally, and most important, the special issue of Public Choice on the politics blogs — co-edited by Henry Farrell and myself — is now available online. That’s enough media for today. I’m turning in.
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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