Kevin Blackistone Recap

On Thursday, April 2, the University of Maryland Sports Business Society welcomed Kevin Blackistone. Blackistone is a columnist, panelist for ESPN's Around the Horn and professor in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Blackistone initially covered economics for The Dallas Morning News. He transitioned to sports writing after the sports editor asked him to cover the business of sports. Blackistone then began writing columns. He called moving to sports a "chance happening."

Speaking about the overlap of sports and business, Blackistone said one could say sports is a business and has "taken a life of its own."

With sports teams, Blackistone noted the importance of data in league franchises, specifically with Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets.

When asked for comment on the NCAA and whether players should be paid, Blackistone emphatically expressed his support for paying student-athletes. Blackistone said he would address the issue by treating student-athletes like employees. He said he doesn't believe in the one-and-done rule in college basketball, calling it a "restriction of labor."

Blackistone also spoke on the looming lockout between the NFL and NFL Players Association and some of the issues that may rise when the two sides attempt to reach a compromise on a new collective bargaining agreement.

Despite many NFL players calling for fully-guaranteed contracts, like in the NBA and MLB, Blackistone believes that isn't the most pressuring issue for NFL players.

Blackistone argued that fully-guaranteed contracts could "deflate the market" for lower-level players on the team, since appropriating guaranteed money for star players lessens the amount of money available for everyone else on the team.

He argued that up-front money benefits players more than guaranteed money. Blackistone sided with New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell, who sat out last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers in search of a long-term contract with more money up front.

Blackistone said that although Bell decided against playing one year on the franchise tag, which would have paid him well over $10 million, he made the right decision by "getting his money now."