Last Friday, I attended the sports economics session at the Irish Economic Association Annual Conference. During the session it was suggested that a Premier League owner, in the conduct of another one of their other businesses, might operate on a particular betting market. Yet, two players have been barred from playing Premier League games this season because of breaching Premier League rules on gambling.
Now consider the following scenario. A player is negotiating a contract with an owner. Suppose that one proposal is that a player takes 2,000 less in basic salary but will get an extra 10,000 if they finish top of a particular metric at the end of the year. Should these bonus type proposals be prohibited by sports organisations?