125th Anniversary Faculty Tour
Kenneth Shropshire
David W. Hauck Professor; Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics
Ken Shropshire, one of the world's leading experts on the business and culture of sports, is an author or editor of six books, including Sports and the Law, The Business of Sports Agents, and In Black and White: Race and Sports in America. A former Stanford football player, he has been an executive with the organizing committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the chair of the Philadelphia Stadium Site Selection Committee and a consultant for both Major League Baseball and the National Football League Players Association. To read Professor Shropshire's full profile, click here.
In his own words…
"I would defy any casual sports fan, say, to name every black coach in the National Basketball Association or every black quarterback in the National Football League. Ten years ago, maybe even five years ago, there were so few that it would have been easy. But just because there has been some progress, does that mean you slow down? Does it push you to do more? On the field, yes, there is more acknowledgement that you get the best player out there — Donovan McNabb or Michael Vick — and don't worry about race. But the front office — general managers and the like — still abounds in an old-boy network."
Listen to Ken Shropshire speak with Kailee Wong, linebacker for the Houston Texans, in a special Knowledge@Wharton Podcast:
The Instant Millionaire—What Should an NFL Player Do?
Read about Ken Shropshire's research in Knowledge@Wharton:
- The Business of Sports
- CEOs Are Ridiculed for Huge Salaries: Why Aren't Athletes and Entertainers?
- Has the Kingdom of Disney Lost its Magic?
- An Above-the-Rim Look at Basketball
- Corporate Sponsorships of Stadiums and Other Institutions Don't Always Pay Off
Read Ken Shropshire's profile in the Wharton Alumni Magazine.