Date of Award

1-1-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Khemraj, Tarron

Area of Concentration

Financial Economics

Abstract

This study examines the U.S. professional sports industry through the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) framework, which is a model commonly used to analyze how a market organization (structure) affects a firm’s behavior and its economic performance. When applying this analytical framework to the sports sector in the United States, it is possible to see with more clarity how the competition develops, the firm’s strategic decisions, and how they perform in the market. The data and research from this study were retrieved from secondary data sources, where it was possible to analyze academic literature, industry performance reports, and financial publications to deepen the credibility of this study. Since the major professional sports in the U.S. are Football, Baseball, and Basketball, this study had a bigger focus on the NFL, MLB, and NBA, which respectively represent the leagues for each of the sports. In a last note, it was possible to see strong financial performance and dominance from the leagues in the sports market, which is a result of the oligopoly structure they are inserted. Even though market control is high, firms are still facing challenges in keeping a competitive balance, having gender pay inequality, and steeply rising costs to customers.

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