Monday, February 13, 2012

An End to the NFL?

These economists seem to think that professional football's liability exposure will be too great in the light of the unfolding tipping point with respect to football's connection to CTE. Some interesting insight there.

1 comment:

  1. It's hard to imagine successful litigation against schools/teams/NFL for football related brain injuries because the players consent and sign waivers, and such injuries are completely foreseeable. Particularly as CTE injuries become more publicly known, then players/parents won't be able to argue that they didn't know about this particular risk.

    So it's hard to see how lawsuits against a school/team/NFL for brain injuries would be any more successful than a similar lawsuit for a broken leg or neck. For example, it is widely known that a player could be permanently paralyzed from a neck injury while playing football, yet there have been no successful lawsuits for those injuries and insurance companies still insure. A broken neck is an even "easier" case to win because there is no doubt what caused the injury, while CTE will be much more difficult to prove in court.

    I think the more compelling factors that could lead to a decrease in interest are (1) parents who wont let their kids play, and (2) fans who lose interest in the sport, similar to fans' reactions to boxing.

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