Lately, I had a conversation during which I was asked about the Austrian take on organizations such as sport governing bodies, professional sport leagues, international sport federations, etc. The point of the question was that even though it seems that these institutions were set up and are governed on a completely voluntary basis, they have "evolved" (or "degenerated") into centralized, extremely bureaucratic mafia-like entities, which create effective barriers to entry for skillful sportspeople, consistently lower the quality of games and in general dispose of the sports market in a "monopolistic" fashion. I replied that since I'm not into league sports at all, I cannot comment on this particular type of organization competently and cannot say whether the form they assume has anything to do with state-granted monopoly privileges, state subdisies/regulations, or anything of that sort. Would any of you care to comment on that topic? Is there any relevant literature in existence?
Best, Jakub
Well there's a few issues here. First, there's the fact that "natural monopolies" are a myth. Then, there's the whole "freedom of association" and "private property" thing...you know, the idea that you can form your own organization and include or exclude whomever you want. So really the whole notion about sports leagues being "centralized, extremely bureaucratic mafia-like entities" is completely irrelevant (even if they "create effective barriers to entry for skillful sportspeople"...or anyone else for that matter). Should you have to allow anyone and everyone to your weekly poker game?
There is something to be said for government interference, and government is almost always the cause of (and almost never not the maintainer of) a company's monopoly power. And yes, of course, there is plenty of governernment interference in sports, as we saw in the recent NFL lockout sitaution, and throughout the past decade in the MLB steroid fiasco. We see it all the time with every mention of a new stadium, and how it will boost the local economy and create jobs, and therefore the local citizens should be forced not only to move off their land, but also to help pay for the project...because it will benefit society at large, aka "the greater good".
So in some respects, yes, there is a monopoly in sports. But just like with virtually every monopoly it has nothing to do with a free market. So to answer your question, from an austro-libertarian position, sports leagues should be able to descriminate against whomever they want, write whatever rules they want dictating how the games are played, and allow any behavior they want from their players (meaning employment at will). It is government interference and coercion of force that is wrong and undesirable.