Written by: Jovan Popovic
Edited by: Noah Britt
The Houston Astros were caught cheating during their 2017 world series run. They stole signs using technology, which included cameras in the outfield, and a correlation application. As a result, the Astros organization was fined $5 million, head coach AJ Hinch, and GM Jeff Luhnow both received 1 year suspensions (resulting in their firing), and their 2021 and 2022 1st and 2nd round draft picks were forfeited. Former bench coach Alex Cora also lost his job managing the Red Sox, and former player (and recently hired manager) Carlos Beltran, parted ways with the Mets.
After the discovery, several rumors came out about the MLB, including Mike Trout taking PEDs, the Yankees and Dodgers sign stealing, and much more. Although most never turned into anything, the league was torn apart. There was one statement by Cincinnati Reds starter Trevor Bauer that sounded more concerning than the others. Bauer said 10% of the league uses PEDs. Many said they knew about the Astros cheating for years, but the league simply turned the other way (until public discovery) because it would be disastrous for the sport. What if the same happens with PEDs?
A common problem in sports is the use of performance enhancing drugs. PEDs are known as being bad for long term health of athletes, and are banned in major sports leagues, including MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, the Olympics, and others. Despite this, they continue to be used, with usage rates on the rise. Why? PEDs are bad for health, plus if caught using steroids, there are huge punishments.
What motivates athletes to cheat when they know the consequences? In modern times, the amount of money athletes can make from sports and sponsorships is so great, they serve as motivators for athletes to do whatever it takes to improve, even if it means cheating and risking bad health down the road. In the 1950s, the biggest star athletes made modest money (thousands). In the 1970’s, athletes making $1 million was huge. Nowadays, LeBron James just signed a contract worth $38.5 million a year with the Lakers, and a $1B lifetime sponsorship contract with Nike! Bryce Harper and Manny Machado got $300 million deals in the 2019 off-season, with Trout getting a $430 million extension. If you are not naturally as good as these athletes, or are not prepared to work as hard, there is another way: PEDs. Big money ruins the integrity and morality of many athletes, as those who don’t cheat, lose out.
The Economist Magazine argues that at least a third of all professional athletes use PEDs, but only 1-2% are caught. So few caught, sends a message that chances of success are high, and the risk-reward ratio is in their favour. Why are so few caught? Policing of PED use is done by the very league that benefits from the sport, and has the most to lose if the sport loses popularity. Although the leagues want to do good, and appear that they are enforcing the right thing, they’re also businesses who make money from the sport. Leagues can’t do something too damaging to the sport or they’ll lose their audience and profits. Publicly reporting that 1-2% of the players are cheat isn’t bad, but if 30-40% are cheating, it would be devastating.
The plan going forward is to look into the history of steroids in baseball. Before this, it should be shown how seriously the MLB appears to take PEDs:
MLB
-1st offense: 80 game suspension without pay + playoffs.
-2nd offense: 1 season suspension without pay + playoffs.
-3rd offense: Lifetime ban.
PEDs “appear” to be taken seriously, yet only 1-2 % of the players get caught of the estimated 33% that are using them. VoxEU.org, a research-based policy analysis and commentary association, analyzed the use of PEDs and effect on audiences. It argues that using PEDs impose a negative externality. Leagues involve many stakeholders, and all these stakeholders have vested interests in the sport. Fans make investments of time, money, and effort, to support a team. In return they want/expect quality, honest, and fair competition. As will be shown later with examples, when the athletes take PEDs and cheat, the fans don’t appreciate it.
Let’s examine the steroid era, from the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s. It was considered the start of large scale steroid use in baseball. From 2001-2004, Barry Bonds batting average spanned from .328 to .370! A .328 average is incredible, nevermind .370! In 2001 he hit 73 home runs, which is the all time record for home runs in a season. He was such a scary hitter to face that he had been intentionally walked 120 times in 2004! To compare, the four MVP winners from the 2017 and 2018 seasons were intentionally walked a combined 26 times. In 2019, Trout led the MLB in intentional walks with 14. In his career, Bonds won 7 MVP awards, 12 silver sluggers, and made 14 all star games. People loved coming out to see him play. Another big slugger was Mark McGwire. In 1998 and 1999, McGwire hit a staggering total of 135 home runs! Sammy Sosa had a 5 year span where he hit 292 home runs, averaging over 58 a year! Since 2001, 58+ home runs in a season has only occurred twice. Consider now that Sosa averaged that for 5 years.
The 1998 home run race (steroid-fueled), helped save baseball by bringing fans back to ballparks in the wake of the 1994 strike. Baseball suffered after the strike: per-game attendance declined 19.8 percent in 1995 compared to the previous season, and the steroid-fueled stars brought back spectators in huge numbers! Is it any wonder that the league finds it hard to do something drastic against PED use after benefits like this?
Teams, the league, and the sport in general can benefit if PEDs increase the entertainment value, as long as the audience doesn’t find out. There is statistical evidence that the audience does not like PED use, considering it a threat to the sport, damaging its reputation. There is a specific case that shows direct consequences: after PED use was discovered on the Tour de France, live broadcasters were less interested in coverage, paying less for TV rights. Sponsors were less likely to endorse too. A monumental study was done by VoxEU.org on specifically the effect of PED scandal in baseball, which showed clearly that the sport loses audience, and directly implies that teams/leagues lose revenue. They leverage the 2005 introduction by Major League baseball of a new set of random tests for drug use. The following is a direct excerpt from the VoxEU.org study:
“The evidence is based on ticket sales (rather than random respondents interviewed in surveys) and measures actual demand responses instead of consumer opinions. This policy yields unique data for investigating the impact of drug violations on attendance. Using this data, we identify 29 drug suspensions given to 27 different players. For the same set of players, we look at injury events that were also publicly announced. Figure 1a compares game attendance before and after a home-team player is suspended because he fails a test. The right panel (Figure 1b) uses injury events to control for the possible change in the quality of the gameplay when a player is removed from the team. If the public cares about drug use, we would expect a decrease in attendance following a suspension, which is, in fact, clearly illustrated. Interestingly, there is no decline in attendance for injury announcements.”
The above study concluded that suspensions decrease audiences at baseball games by as much as 8%, within about 12 days. The study calculated that PED violations cost the team 1.1% of annual revenue, or $451,000 (in 2005). Many teams can take a 1.1% hit, but to take 30 times that much (33%), would be terrible, and this is assuming a linear relationship (probably exponential).
Some of the most commonly heard names in baseball, including Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire used steroids. Bonds holds the all time record for most home runs in a career (over 700), as well as in a season (73). McGwire has 583 home runs, and Sosa has 609. All three were caught using PEDs, and someone observant can tell, (extreme physical difference - view images below). They looked, and played very differently after they started taking steroids. Only 9 times has someone hit more than 60 home runs in a season. The three mentioned account for 7 of those, all in a span of 3 years too. They formed baseball’s “steroid era."
In 2003 the MLB began testing, just to be informed, and results were “eye opening” (players were anonymous). In the 2005 offseason, the MLB began implementing PED punishments, which were 50 games, 100 games, and lifetime for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd time offenders. In 2006, it came out that more than 80 players were caught, including many stars, and even potential future hall of famers. It didn’t give a very good public perception to the players at all. These players were labeled cheaters, and always will have to live with this. People don’t like cheaters.
Many years later, people still remember and don’t like steroid users. Barry Bonds holds the record for most home runs in a career, and a season, yet he has failed to make the hall of fame (8 years on ballot, 2 left). People say letting steroid users into the HOF ruins the integrity of the game, and shouldn’t be allowed. Alex Rodriguez, was one of the best players in the league for most of his career, but was caught using PEDs 3 times, making him the most hated player in baseball. No matter what city, he was booed like no other. He was known as A-Rod, which quickly became A-Roid. Despite his incredible career, he has little chance of making the hall of fame, and is more likely to be remembered as a cheater than anything else.
In 2018, only 3 MLB players tested positive, and 4 in 2019. Among the 2018 caught users was Robinson Cano, a surprise to many people. Cano had built up a hall of fame career, but there’s now doubt as to whether he makes it. After being as close as it comes to a sure fire hall of famer, it now looks very likely he doesn’t make it. In his career, Cano has made $190 million before endorsements, so his PED use looks worth it from his eyes, especially if he wasn’t caught ($96 million remaining on his current contract).
It is clear that PED use needs to be stopped, for athlete health, and the integrity of the sport. Spectators want elite performance, but they also want fair competition and sportsmanship. Sports leagues want the same thing, but they are caught in a trap. They know how bad the problem is, but can’t admit it for fear of losing their audience, whom they’ve spent lots of time, money, and effort to cultivate. This is the same trap that they were stuck in with the Astros. This is why they looked the other way when hearing about their sign stealing.
Players have motives to cheat, and leagues have motives not to catch them. It’s likely many players use steroids, pitchers use foreign substances, and teams steal signs, yet aren’t caught because the league doesn’t want to catch them. Finding out a vast majority of the league cheats would be devastating, fans wouldn’t watch anymore. This is an issue that leagues should take more seriously, but must be careful with, as fans would hate to find out the truth, and the league would lose money and popularity from more discoveries like the Astros, and PED users like Cano. It’s a delicate house of cards, balancing entertainment value, business profits, sports integrity, fairness, and athlete health. If not careful, the deck of cards could easily come falling down!
Citations
NYU Local, & Nyu. (2013, February 18). Juicin' In The Majors: A History Of Steroids In Baseball. Retrieved from https://nyulocal.com/juicin-in-the-majors-a-history-of-steroids-in-baseball-d2facd1cbcfb
Anabolic Steroids - Abuse, Side Effects and Safety. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.drugs.com/article/anabolic-steroids.html
Why it is necessary to regulate doping in sports. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://voxeu.org/article/why-it-necessary-regulate-doping-sports
The use of banned drugs is rife in sport. (2018, February 10). Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/international/2018/02/10/the-use-of-banned-drugs-is-rife-in-sport
How to stop doping in sports. (2018, February 08). Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/02/08/how-to-stop-doping-in-sports
Lindbergh, B. (2018, September 28). How Much of a Role Did Steroids Play in the Steroid Era? Retrieved from https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2018/9/28/17913536/mark-mcgwire-sammy-sosa-steroid-era-home-run-chase
Steroid Sluggers: The Major League Home Run Hitting Offenders. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://howtheyplay.com/team-sports/Steroid-Sluggers-The-Major-League-Baseball-Best-Home-Run-Hitting-Offenders
Davis, S. (2018, July 1). LeBron James to sign 4-year, $154 million contract with the Lakers in massive free agency move. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/lebron-james-signs-lakers-contract-free-agency-2018-7
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