Analysis & Commentary
This page features research-driven analysis on governance, regulation, and institutional systems, including work on sports, labor markets, and economic structure. The writing focuses on how rules shape incentives, outcomes, and long-term stability across different contexts. New essays are published weekly on Wednesdays.
Why Political Interest Will Not Fix College Sports at Present
Political attention has reached college sports, but attention is not governance. Real reform requires expertise, tradeoffs, and a regulatory model that still does not exist.
The WNBA Has Outgrown the NBA Comparison
The NBA comparison helped explain what the WNBA once lacked. As attendance, viewership, and investment surge, it is becoming less useful as a measure of what the league can become on its own terms.
The Transfer Portal Is Creating College Sports’ Roster Cliff
The transfer portal can improve teams quickly, but growing reliance on older transfers may be weakening development pipelines and limiting opportunities for high school recruits.
Platform Power, Sanctions, and the Privatization of Infrastructure
Platform power today is infrastructural power.
Should the WNBA Reconsider Its Age Requirement?
The WNBA’s draft age rule made sense in 1997. Elite women’s basketball talent is arriving earlier. Has the policy evolved with the league?
Talent Retention and Regulatory Design: What the Rodman Rule Signals About League Strategy
Labor retention in global sports markets is shaped by regulatory design, not preference alone.
International Labor Mobility in Women’s Sports
When domestic leagues stall, international markets gain leverage.
Regulatory Arbitrage and the Global Labor Market in Women’s Sports
When labor moves across borders, it often reflects differences in regulatory design.
When Pay Rises but Opportunity Doesn’t: Inside the 2026 WNBA CBA
Supplemental analysis responding to the finalized 2026 WNBA CBA, examining how changes in compensation structure interact with fixed roster constraints and shape the distribution of opportunity across the league.
NIL, Resource Concentration, and the Regulatory Shift in College Sports
Deregulation does not eliminate structure. It redistributes power.
The Regulatory Lag Problem
When governance reacts instead of anticipates, power concentrates before accountability arrives.
Risk, Growth, and Leverage in the 2026 WNBA CBA Negotiations
UPDATE 3/12: Collective bargaining during a growth phase redistributes risk before it redistributes revenue. New developments and a proposed solution added.
What Could a Fully Regulated NIL Market Look Like?
NIL created a marketplace. It did not create a regulatory system.
The WNBA Off-Season Problem Is a Governance Problem, Not Just a Compensation Problem
When the offseason pays more than the season, players do the math.
Salary Caps and the Politics of Pay in Professional Sports
Salary caps are not just about fairness between teams. They are about distribution within a labor market.
What Determines League Stability?
Talent drives attention across many leagues. Structure determines survival.
I welcome thoughtful questions, research ideas, and perspectives related to governance, regulation, and institutional design. If there are topics or developments that warrant closer examination, I am interested in learning more.