Labor – Sports and Inequality

Labor 120 – Sports and Inequality

Fall 2024

Drawing from our readings and films, answer all of the following questions (in about 2 paragraphs per answer). Do not draw from sources outside the class. The exam should be submitted by 3 pm on Tuesday (11/26) via Blackboard.

1) What happened in the 1987 NFL players’ strike? What impact did it have on the future of labor relations in the NFL? How (according to the article we read – Nov 5th) did it create the “modern NFL?” What are some of the difficulties the players faced in organizing? (25 points)

2) League of Denial (the documentary we watched in class) outlines how the NFL tried to discredit Dr. Omalu and his work. Describe Dr. Omalu’s work. What did it show/prove? Why was the NFL trying to discredit Omalu? (25 points)

3) Why do team owners and city leaders often want to use public/tax money to help privately owned teams build stadiums? What are the arguments for using tax money in this way? What are the arguments against it? In answering these questions, draw from both the reading and the documentary (“Throw a Billion Dollars from a Helicopter”). (25 points)

4) Towards what ends has the NCAA used “amateurism” and the notion of the “student-athlete?” What has been the NCAA’s motivation for insisting that college athletes are amateurs who are students first? What is at stake? (25 points)