Not Commodities at All...

Sports (more so I feel than any other sector of the entertainment industry) teach us that human beings are commodities to be sold and traded. Athlete are assets that, while they gain a generous salary, are used to make profit for a team and a league while the fan gets three hours of freedom from the worries and strife of day to day life.

This ugly set of circumstances is what bothers me most about the intersection between sports and business. While some athletes attain greatness and have a business legacy long after their playing days are done, the vast majority of professional athletes are nor superstars and many file for bankruptcy within five years of retirement. It’s understandable. Show me a 23 year with millions of dollars in disposable income and I’ll show you a young man in a position to make some very unwise decisions.

What if they tear an ACL? What if they are convicted of a crime? What if they just can’t play the way they used to? The athlete’s respective league does not care, there are countless kids waiting in line for their shot at the dream of becoming a superstar. Furthermore, the league has gained tremendous profit from the talents of these individuals, and what happens to them after retirement is not their business.

So once jersey sales have stalled, their contract runs out, and they can’t make payments on their house and cars, many of these athletes come back to a cycle of poverty they thought they had finally eluded. I can’t help but think that as young men these athletes were duped and that many end up alone and abused. We forget that these “commodities” are living breathing individuals with hopes and fears like the rest of us. I do not know what the solution might be. As fans, perhaps we could begin by recognizing that these individuals deserve our empathy, even if they just missed a layup.

For more information visit: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3469271