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Contract Extensions: The Case of Major League Baseball

Journal of Sports Economics

Published online on

Abstract

This article is concerned with how contract extensions create incentives that affect the characteristics of compensation of Major League Baseball players. We begin with a description of a number of attributes of the negotiation process. Using a sample of contract extensions, we summarize a number of characteristics of this phenomenon. For example, we show how both sides are made better off as a result of these negotiations and that most extensions take place during the last year of the existing contract. Furthermore, for those players with less than 6 years of service, the new contract typically extends beyond the player’s arbitration-eligible years.