Soccer leagues around the world use a promotion-and-relegation system to reward the best teams and punish the worst. We ask whether American sports fans would enjoy a similar system. (Part two of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Domonique Foxworth, sports analyst and former N.F.L. player.
  • Stefan Szymanski, professor of sport management at the University of Michigan.
  • Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.

• RESOURCES:
  • "'Root, root, root for the home team" did TV kill minor league baseball in the 1950s?" by Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan, 2025).
  • "European and North American Sports Differences (?): A Quarter Century on," by Stefan Szymanski (Principles and Paradoxes of Sports Economics, 2024).
  • National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer, by Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist (2006).

• EXTRAS:
  • "When Is a Superstar Just Another Employee? (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "The Longest Long Shot," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

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The N.F.L. is a powerful cartel with imperial desires. College football is about to undergo a financial reckoning. So maybe they should team up? (Part one of a two-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • DeMaurice Smith, former executive director of the National Football League Players Association.
  • Domonique Foxworth, sports analyst and former N.F.L. player.
  • Jeffrey Kessler, partner at the law firm of Winston & Strawn.
  • Oliver Luck, sports executive and consultant.
  • Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross.

• RESOURCES:
  • Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game, by DeMaurice Smith (2025).
  • "Is there a Case for Subsidizing Sports Stadiums?" by Victor Matheson (Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2018).

• EXTRAS:
  • "America’s Hidden Duopoly," by Freakonomics Radio (2018).
  • "Should the U.S. Merge With Mexico?" by Freakonomics Radio (2014).

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In this episode we first published in 2021, the political scientist Yuen Yuen Ang argues that different forms of government create different styles of corruption — and that the U.S. and China have more in common than we’d like to admit.

• SOURCES:
  • Yuen Yuen Ang, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "China’s Anti-Graft Show Is Educational, With Unintended Lessons," by Li Yuan (The New York Times, 2022).
  • China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom and Vast Corruption, by Yuen Yuen Ang (2020).
  • "A Fair Assessment of China’s IP Protection," by Shang-Jin Wei and Xinding Yu (Project Syndicate, 2019).
  • The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It, by Anat Admati (2013).
  • "A Fistful of Dollars: Lobbying and the Financial Crisis," by Deniz Igan, Prachi Mishra, and Thierry Tressel (2011).

• EXTRAS:
  • "China Is Run by Engineers. America Is Run by Lawyers." by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • American Culture series by Freakonomics Radio (2021).

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