David Berri

The Chiefs might win this game. But if the Chiefs have such "championship heart", why are they 6-6? Why are they losing right now? Maybe -- just maybe -- this team isn't as good as they were last year.

Jeff Kent's lifetime WAR is 55.4 in 2298 career games.
Lou Whitaker's lifetime WAR was 75.2 in 2390 career games.

One player is now in the Hall of Fame. The other didn't come close.

Is there some sort of marketing study that establishes increasing the sound during commercials makes you want to buy a product? Does blasting the commercial and irritating people really help?

This was very interesting!

New UC Berkeley Initiative Will Try to Close ‘Dangerous’ Data Gap in Women's Sports | KQED For decades, female athletes have been treated based on data collected almost exclusively from men. A UC Berkeley data initiative is trying to change that.

www.kqed.org/news/1206627...

The Jazz gameplan where they spot the Knicks 23 points to start the game is definitely a bold choice!! Love the originality!

It’s about 40% for the men

Sources: WNBPA issues counterproposal asking for higher split of league and team revenue Following an offer by the WNBA that would create a salary system granting players essentially 15% of league and team revenue, sources told SBJ the WNBPA submitted a counterproposal Wednesday asking fo...

According to this report, the players are now just asking for 30% of revenue.

It was unlikely the NBA would agree to treat women and men equally. And if this report is true, the women have accepted this reality.

More soon on the Substack!
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/202...

One thing you learn from Kay Jeweler ads is that really good looking people seem to have very happy relationships. Once someone buys some jewelry!

One does wonder if it is the jewelry or being really attractive. Perhaps this requires an academic study.

Does 50 Really Sound Like 15? Evaluating the latest proposal from the NBA/WNBA Owners

If you are wondering how the WNBA players feel about the latest offer from the NBA owners... I did the math.

Maybe the NBA really thinks 50 sounds like 15.

Then again, maybe the NBA really ain't closing the gender-wage gap!

wagesofwins.substack.com/p/does-50-re...

State of the Stack, One Year In I guess I’m not retired yet

In Paul Krugman's post today (explaining his substack):

"I say “we” because Robin Wells, my wife, is very much a part of this project."

He then details his wife's involvement. Given that she is helping with the research, she should get more credit.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/state-of-t...

Only a few players make $1 million in this system. Most make much less. You can assemble a team of talented players who are underpaid. Just like now!

Still really low!!

Given those figures you are at 15% of revenue!

Telling the NBA Owner's Story. Again. And Again. Why it is so hard to slay the WNBA trolls!

Negotiations continue between the WNBA players and the owners (i.e. the NBA).

Whose story are you likely to hear? Again and again, you are hearing the NBA's position presented as fact.

This impacts how we see WNBA profitability and the gender-wage gap!

wagesofwins.substack.com/p/telling-th...

Deadspin | Playing football at Northwestern University haunts me to this day: Ex-Wildcat lineman Deadspin | Playing football at Northwestern University haunts me to this day: Ex-Wildcat lineman

I wrote this piece about one player's allegations of "hazing" (racist and sexual abuse) on Pat Fitzgerald's watch. In all, 34 former players sued the school, and they hired Loretta Lynn to investigate.

And now Fitzgerald has another prime coaching gig. It's unbelievable.

Why does no one seem to understand that forward-looking "economic impact studies" aren't a real thing? There is no grad school class on this because no credible forecasting methods exist. No serious economists use these consultant projection models for anything.

“The misogyny at the heart of the gender wage gap runs deep. Where sports reporting should be illuminating and challenging that misogyny and holding the powerful owners to account, much of it instead only adds to the discrimination WNBA players face.”

Sports Press Covers WNBA Negotiations From Owners’ Point of View Too many news reports have catered to owners' interests when reporting on the negotiations between the players' union and the league.

Feed: "FAIR"
By: Emma Lucia Llano on Friday, November 28, 2025

Sports Press Covers WNBA Negotiations From Owners’ Point of View Too many news reports have catered to owners' interests when reporting on the negotiations between the players' union and the league.

News outlets have continued to push the idea that the WNBA is not profitable, exclusively relying on anonymous sources, without ever referencing any corroborating financial documents.

fair.org/home/sports-...

Sports Press Covers WNBA Negotiations From Owners’ Point of View Too many news reports have catered to owners' interests when reporting on the negotiations between the players' union and the league.

Time and time again the media reports from the owners point-of-view in the WNBA labor negotiations. Time and time again journalists offer no evidence supporting NBA claims.

If something is not supported by evidence, it is simply an assertion. It is not a fact.

fair.org/home/sports-...

I have written 6 books and nearly 100 academic articles. If you were to ask my professors in the 1980s if I was capable of "engaging with long texts" and "follow instructions" they would say I was not.

In my defense... the texts were boring and instructions were stupid. I was also 20 years old! 🤣

This wins the day!!

Watching the Eagles struggle today at home makes me feel better about the Lions.

There just is no dominant team in the NFL this year.

Any team can win it all.

And 13 of the 14 playoffs teams definitely won't! 🤣

Win a Super Bowl. Create future angry fans!! 🤣

Economists (when I was taught economics originally!):
People are perfectly rational.

Sports Fans: My team -- which won the Super Bowl last year and is currently in first place in its division -- is losing this game at halftime by 7 points.

If we look across the entire season, which of the following 4 teams is the worst?

Lions, Ravens, Chiefs, or Cowboys

I tend to think it is the Cowboys.

Which of these fan bases is happy today?

Only the Cowboys

Fans of the Lions, Chiefs, and Ravens are all freaking out.

Recency Bias in Action!

Aging is so weird. I can still remember 1981.

And I can remember in 1981 that 1936 felt like it was a thousand years ago!

As I teach history now, I try to remember time works this way for my students. They were born in 2007. So, the 1980s for them are the 1930s for me.

Adam Smith explicitly warned in 1776 that banks have to be regulated.

History has repeatedly shown he was right.

So... feels like this story is important.

Are We Ready to Rumble?

Huge matchup between Texas and South Carolina about to start!