ECON 3520 - Sports Economics III

North Terrace Campus - Winter - 2014

The course analyses the economics of the professional sports industry, which is not only big business but also benefits from public policy favour. The sports industry has many peculiar characteristics that are amenable to economic analysis. Among other topics, the course covers market structure, the labour market, public subsidies for stadia, public funding of bids for mega-events and for the events themselves, and corruption.

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Course Details

Course Code	ECON 3520
Course	Sports Economics III
Coordinating Unit	Economics
Term	Winter
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Intensive course up to 14 hours per week
Prerequisites	ECON 1000, ECON 1004, ECON 1008
Assumed Knowledge	ECON 2504, ECON 2506
Assessment	Typically, a paper/presentation & final exam

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Professor Richard Pomfret

Course Coordinator and Co-Lecturer: Professor Richard Pomfret
Office location: Nexus 10 Building, Room 4.36
Telephone 8313 4751; Email richard.pomfret@adelaide.edu.au

Co-Lecturer: Professor John Siegfried
Office location: Nexus 10 Building, Room 4.29
Telephone 8313 4926; Email john.siegfried@vanderbilt.edu

Tutor: Aaron Blanco

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Lectures and seminars:
11am - 1 pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Tutorials:
2 - 3pm or 3 - 4 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

There is a one-hour mid-course examination on Wednesday, July 16, at 11:00 am, and a two-hour final examination on Friday, July 25 from 11am - 1 pm.

Course Learning Outcomes

The University of Adelaide is a research-intensive university, which seeks to develop graduates of international distinction by supporting high quality education. The University of Adelaide provides an environment where students are encouraged to take responsibility for developing the graduate attributes listed below. Additionally, the continuing development of good inter-personal and communication skills is widely recognised as important for all graduates, and this course specifically seeks to develop students’ abilities to make oral presentations to their tutorial group, and to write a short research report based on assigned reading material.

On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

1	have gained knowledge of the branch of economics devoted to the sports industry
2	have enhanced their analytical skills
3	have gained experience in presenting a report and discussing its content
4	have developed inter-personal and communication skills in small-group discussion

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	1, 2, 3
The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner.	1, 2, 3
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	1,2, 3
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	3, 4
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	1, 2, 3
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	1, 2
A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community.	1, 2
An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities.	1, 4

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Manuscripts of two yet–to-be-published textbooks are posted on MyUni:
Brad Humphreys: The Economics of Professional Sports: An e-Textbook
John Wilson and Richard Pomfret: Public Policy and Professional Sports: International and Australian Experiences
This is copyrighted material, which the authors have made available on a pre-publication basis for your personal use only.

Other readings are available from the Barr-Smith Library electronically or in hard copy. If you are uncertain about how to access online articles, e-books or other materials take the BSL Online Discovery Tour at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/guide/tutorials.html. If a book is on loan from the library, you can recall it http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/tutorials/tut08/demo8.html, and it should be available within a week. This is important for BSL staff to judge demand; if there are multiple requests for a book, the library will take action to increase availability.

Students are recommended to purchase:
Stefan Szymanski: Playbooks and Checkbooks: An Introduction to the Economics of Modern Sports (Princeton UP, 2009). It is available in paperback, is easy to read, and covers many of the topics in this course.

Readings marked * are in a Subject Reader available from the Image and Copy Centre.

Students are expected to read assignments before tutorials. Be prepared to summarize the articles and/or critically evaluate them. Class participation will be evaluated and will count five per cent toward the overall marks for the subject.

Recommended Resources

In addition to the listed readings, you should refer to the following collections, which are available from the BSL:
Wladimir Andreff and Stefan Szymanski: Handbook on the Economics of Sport (Edward Elgar, 2009).
Wolfgang Maennig and Andrew Zimbalist: International Handbook of the Economics of Mega Sporting Events (Edward Elgar, 2012) – BSL e-resource

Additional readings may be posted on MyUni.

The final exam consists of essay questions; the more widely you read (and think about the readings), the more likely you are to write better essays.

Online Learning

The overheads from the lectures and selected reading materials will be available on MyUni.

Learning & Teaching Modes

No information currently available.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This translates to 12 hours per week for a semester course.

Learning Activities Summary

Lectures & Seminars	Mon 7 July & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Introduction: Overview of sports economics [JS]
	Tuesday 8 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Demand and short-run pricing [JS]
	Wednesday9 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Pricing in the inelastic region of demand [JS]
	Thurs 10 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Price discrimination [JS]
	Friday 11 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Scalpingand pricing season tickets and individual game tickets [JS]
Written Assignment 1 Due:
	Monday 14	11.00 - 13.00 Team and league behaviour [JS]
	Tuesday 15 & tutorial	11.00 -13.00 Organizing leagues [RP]
Written Assignment 2 Due:
	Wednesday16 No tutorial	11.00 - 12.00 Mid-semester exam
	Thursday 17 Tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Labour markets [RP] (reveiw of exam)
	Friday 18 & tutorial	11.00 -13.00 Broadcasting; economic impact analysis [JS]
	Monday 21 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Public policy - subsidies (stadia) [RP]
	Tuesday 22 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Mega-events: what are they worth? - why bid? [RP]
Written Assignment 3 Due:
	Wed 23 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 Unethical behaviour, (corruption, doping etc) [RP]
	Thurs 24 & tutorial	11.00 - 13.00 overview and revision
	Friday 25 No tutorial	11.00 – 13.00 FINAL EXAM

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

TUTORIALS (assignments and participation)	20%
MID-SEMESTER EXAM	30%
FINAL EXAM	50%

ASSESSMENT DETAIL:
Students are expected to hand in three sets of assignments, each worth 5%, and also prepare and participate in tutorial discussion of assigned key articles.

The mid-semester exam, whose format and content will be announced in class and posted on MyUni, is intended to provide feedback on students’ progress over the first half of the course. The final examination requires students to write extended essay-style answers to two questions. Sample exam questions will be posted on MyUni.

The final exam will cover the entire course. All material from the classes and required readings is examinable; wider reading and deeper thinking are likely to be rewarded by higher grades. Students’ work will be assessed on the logical quality of the arguments presented and on the ability to determine which arguments better explain the facts.

Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process; marks may be deducted in the final examination because of poor hand-writing.

Students may NOT take a DICTIONARY (English or English-Foreign) or a CALCULATOR into the examination.

Assessment Detail

Students are expected to hand in three sets of assignments (questions will be posted on MyUni, and answers are due at the start of the designated tutorial), each worth 5%, and also prepare and participate in seminar discussion of assigned key articles.

The mid-semester exam, whose format and content will be announced in class and posted on MyUni, is intended to provide feedback on students’ progress over the first half of the course.

The final examination requires students to write two essays from a choice of questions. Sample exam questions will be posted on MyUni. The final exam will cover the entire course. All material from the classes and required readings is examinable; wider reading and deeper thinking are likely to be rewarded by higher grades. The essays will be assessed on the logical quality of the arguments presented and on the ability to determine which arguments better explain the facts.

Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are considered to be integral parts of the assessment process; marks will not be awarded for answers that cannot be read.

Students may NOT take a DICTIONARY (English or English-Foreign) or a CALCULATOR into the examination.

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator