Department of Economics

The National Football League (NFL) is a unique economic environment for athletes and teams that fails to conform to typical labor-wage markets. Athletes in the National Football League have extremely short careers due to the physically demanding nature of football, creating a unique trajectory of earnings. Varying importance of positions and different career lengths as a result of disproportionate amount of contact leads to a difference in pay amongst position groups, despite apparent differences in skill. This paper examines the factors that go into determining contract length and amount (primary focus on age and position), as well as the discrepancy of earnings between position groups