Professional Athletes

Introduction

Governments have spent millions of shilling trying to improve and support sporting activities which are one way of bringing it citizens together for a common goal of unity. The creation of stadiums is not an easy task and therefore time and resources have to be invested in order to benefit from this activity. Public funds have been invested in sports and cultural activities in order to enhance the togetherness of the society and eliminate tribal grounds in various countries (Afremow, 2014). For example in the year 2004, Portugal spent almost $800 million on hosting the Euro events. This is a much large figure to invest in a sporting but the benefits are much more than what is invested. It has been established that in case a player engages in unlawful behavior off the field, there is a consequence to be faced by both the member and the club society that member belongs. Whatever players do outside the field reflects back to the club that player belongs to and therefore affects the earning capacity of the club (Lester and gunn, 2013). Having aggressive players influences the minds of their spectators and they might do as the players do and to some extent, this leads to serious issues such as chaos in case they lose the match. These serious activities cause dislikes and like accordingly since not everyone is for the favor of chaos in the society. This in return draws more people out of the clubs activities and therefore any support needed by the club will definitely go down since no one is ready to support the team. These activities bring down the earning capabilities of the team and therefore a decline in revenues.

Players such as one Paul Gallen earlier 2014 was fined by the sporting organization for posting harsh comments on social media regarding his own team. This act was highly condemned by many since it showed how disrespectful the player is to his own team (Afremow, 2014). Certain players have caused their sports team to lose the favor of even winning since motivation is very crucial when it comes to being successful. Many players especially the male players have even being convicted of committing a felony such as a dog fight, drug abuse, violence at their homes, and to some extent murder. All these activities pull away from both the sponsors and the general public away as they try to reduce their reputation from being tarnished by these irresponsible players. In the case of sponsors pulling out their support for any professional team, the professional team has to find another source to continue funding their activities and this in return brings down the earning capacity of the team as they start running on debts and which eventually could lead to the downfall of the team (Abrams, 2010). Various rules and regulations have been put forward to control the players in order to keep them out of trouble even by the club owners as a strategy to stay in the favor of the society. No one is willing to engage with a violent individual and therefore these stipulated laws have leveled the off-field activities of each team player for the success of the professional teams.

Literature overview

Articles have been published on the violence individuals or the families of the professional players are subjected to by these brutal players. The cause of this brutality involving mostly the basketballers is yet to be determined but it is closely associated with the masculine in their body which might trigger aggressiveness among whoever they associate with (Afremow, 2014). However, the National Football League (NFL) has outlined the necessary measure to be taken against the athletes who misbehave or cause harm to citizens whether in the field or off the field. Professional clubs are likely to gain from the rules and regulations put forward to curb the behaviors of these athletes and therefore earn the club revenue. Fines have been introduced by the club managers and the federation in order to punish any player who breaches the contract knowing or unknowingly as long as they are clearly stipulated in the rules of the organizations. In most cases what the club is fined by the organization is much more than what it has suffered from the offender. This is so since the federation wants its players to be responsible for what they do off the field and on the field. Clubs are known to influence their team members by ranking each individual without consideration that for a team to work, members should be recognized. This action triggers hatred and the urge to revenge (Abrams, 2010). In such a case, the revenge will mostly be done to those who are close to the individual thereby increasing the chances for the loved ones being hurt by these athletes. Club owners should influence the activities of the team members in order to prevent the club from being fined for an individual misbehavior. Professional clubs depends on funds more for the regular trips and matches internationally making it a challenge not to get the necessary revenue needed to fund their projects.

Picture of the model

Playing professionally means being paid to play while the audience watches since they have paid to be there and the performance is all about the audience, not the players. Considering this immediate definition, professional athletes should always adhere to the rules in place to avoid any disciplinary act against them since it reduces the need for the spectators to gather and agree to pay for the same activity (Bourg and Gouguet, 2010). Being chosen by the audience to entertain them should always be of priority so as to gain more funds for them and the club itself. In the early 1990s, a professional player by the name Baltimore was punished severely by the court and the national football league due to his disrespectful acts of punching his wife while they were in an elevator. Baltimore never thought that such an act could be the end of his career as a professional athlete. Similar acts have been happening all over the world where the athletes fight their spouses and family members with no action taken against them since this might bring down the reputation of their companies. Off-field acts have been one of the major causes of downfall in major companies and athletic agents have had a rough time trying to manage their clients to remain in good behaviors (Noll and Zimbalist, 2011). Mark, a philosopher in sports who has written a book “Aretism”, wrote that aggression off-field is highly caused by the aggression these athletes are subjected to during the matches. Taking out anger during sports can be very detrimental than taking the anger out on objects.

The cheering for aggression during a match is mostly the highest contributor of off-field issues caused by being aggressive even to minor issues which can be solved within no time. It is said that when one views aggression he/she leads to increased aggression. It is most certainly true since the height at which individuals are engaging in this irresponsible behavior is quite alarming leading to the loss in terms of revenue collection. Sports organizations depend on membership funds to support their activities. When these membership funds are withdrawn, the sports organization have to find alternative means which can even mean selling their assets and also their players in order to sustain their activities. Funding the programs required in the professional sporting is very expensive and without support from the fans and other willing sponsors might present challenges (Bourg and Gouguet, 2010). Event fees are mostly used by the sporting clubs to run the events organized by the clubs as a way of reducing the expenditures. These events such as the fixtures, the tournaments, and championships are used to create revenue for the sporting organization. The off fields activities done by the professional players could highly affect the continued support for the sporting organization.

Hypothesis

There is a significant relationship between off-field crime and the performance including the income for the sporting organization. When professional players are found guilty of committing crimes, they receive penalties which include jail terms thereby affecting the performance of the sporting club. This jail terms or convictions could ruin the earning capability of the leagues and therefore the longer they keep out of trouble, the better for the league to earn more income. Government grants will also be withdrawn since there will be a crisis created by individuals who commit crimes leaving the government with no choice but to cut short the funding (Bourg and Gouguet, 2010). The areas where such professional players who commit crimes go to practice and showcase their winning capability will also lose more spectators. With this actions and responses from the society, the league will have no choice but terminate the activities of the player.

The relationship between the types of crimes and the performance is much significant. Cleveland had been caught with a crime of driving while under the influence of drugs. This crime was even published in the Newspapers and this means that the reputation of this player was ruined by the single arrest and the publication of it. Many people tend to consider the behaviors of each individual when it comes to risking their money by purchasing tickets for such a league (Bourg and Gouguet, 2010). This activity leads to low turnout in terms of spectators who are willing to watch or have a good time while watching. Such responses lead to the lack of funds and therefore less income for that period. Certain crimes do not lead to jailing or publication such as what Toronto did in the year 2015. Toronto committed a criminal offense by driving under influence but the matter did not reach the media but in case the matter was reported to the media personalities there would have been adverse implications to the league he belongs. The leagues depend on the behaviors of its members and if they uphold good behavior while off-field, this could bring more revenue to the company, therefore.

Crimes committed in a large public number create an impact in the minds of the spectators. Committing a crime before the public leads to dislike as many condemn the act which shows how undermined the general public is viewed by the professional players. Los Angeles suffered a blow when the crimes of drug abuse were publicized. Drug abuse is one of the crimes that most of the professional leagues and players are suffering today (Hallmann and Petry, 2013). Using drugs has been condemned in every sport and therefore the level of punishment suffered by the leagues leads to even being disbanded. It is a criminal offense to use any kind pf drug either in or off the field as this could lead to violence if the drugs backfire on the individuals.

Methodology

The methodology applied in this research is publication research as the major process including historical data collection. There has been a lot of publication involving the behaviors of the professional leagues which most say has left a gap in the society. Having a professional league retaining a murderer seems so harsh for the society to take in and let go. A major writer had written about how there were injustices conducted on the general public involving the professional athletes and sporting clubs but no action had been taken even by the government. This can partly be associated with the fact that the government had invested a lot in the leagues and was not ready to surrender its pride for the sake of rescuing humanity from this horrible deaths and mistreatment (Noll and Zimbalist, 2011). The data combines all the details regarding the sporting leagues and the behaviors which have led to the imprisonment of the individuals involved. This is as a result of the publication by the media on how the society was being misled by the individuals involved in these actions. The media had taken a step forward by allowing the general society has the knowing about what was happening around them. The published actions caused the leagues perform poorly as no one was ready to spend on anything that seemed a waste of time. The perception about the professional leagues almost loosed market as no contributions were made towards the leagues in question.

Results

Team	Salary		Crime		year	Publicized		Arrested
Los Angeles Rams				Drug	2016		No	Yes
New York Jets				Resisting arrest	2016		Yes	No
New England Patriots				Domestic violence	2016		No	Yes

 

Most of the leagues that had crime issues seemed to perform poorly as a result of withdrawal and lack of players in the pitch as most were serving jail terms. Such acts reduced the earning capabilities as most had to struggle and find resources to replace the lost through court orders and bails. Companies that survive on debts and loans are more likely to perform poorly as they lack the necessary resources to enhance their tournaments and other important events. According to the data collected, most leagues have been reported to engage in off-field misconduct which has led to ineffective performances and dropping in ranks for the same reason (Bourg and Gouguet, 2010). Having a clear reputation contributes to the success of the league and when this is not the case, losses will be inevitable and therefore there will be less performance.

Conclusion

The number of leagues involved in off-field misbehavior is large and therefore this shows that a high number of individuals does not respect the already in place rules. There should be respect amongst the leagues whether during a performance or outside a performance. Funding irresponsible leagues can be a risky act and therefore the higher the number of cases the lower the number of individuals willing to sacrifice their money for the league's support. Quality performance of the leagues depends on the effectiveness of the members and when there are criminal activities against the league there is less income for the same team.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Abrams, R. I. (2010). Sports justice: The law & the business of sports. Boston, Mass:        Northeastern University Press.

Afremow, J. (2014). The Champion's Mind: How Great Athletes Think, Train, and Thrive.

Lester, D., & Gunn, J. F. (2013). Suicide in professional and amateur athletes: Incidence, risk     factors, and prevention.

Bourg, J.-F., & Gouguet, J.-J. (2010). The political economy of professional sport. Cheltenham,   UK: Edward Elgar.

Noll, R. G., & Zimbalist, A. S. (2011). Sports, jobs, and taxes: The economic impact of sports      teams and stadiums. Washington D.C: Brookings Institution Press.

Hallmann, K., & Petry, K. (2013). Comparative Sport Development: Systems, Participation and Public Policy. New York, NY: Imprint: Springer.