What would the transfer fee be for some of America’s biggest sports stars?
By David Rouben
After Neymar shattered the world transfer record with his move to PSG, how much would LeBron James, Tom Brady, or Stephen Curry be worth on the market?
Neymar’s move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain was arguably the most shocking story in sports this year. He not only broke the Internet, he also broke the world transfer record as his fee was more than double that of Paul Pogba’s.
Neymar is a top three talent in world football, but if he’s worth $262 million, it makes you wonder how much superstar athletes in the United States would cost. If the four major leagues in North America did away with trades and acquired players with cold hard cash, the landscape would be vastly different than it is today. LeBron James would almost certainly be playing in Los Angeles or a similarly big market since Cleveland wouldn’t be able to afford him.
While soccer fans are decrying Neymar’s transfer as the death of the sport, since teams can simply buy their way to championships these days, it offers an interesting comparison. Assigning a hypothetical transfer fee to the following players should present a better understanding of Neymar’s current value.
Given America’s consumer culture, this might be a more fun method of conducting business than what’s currently being done. It’d be a lot less likely for a star like Mike Trout to be stuck on a bad team, while general managers would face tremendous pressure to try to keep their players since they can leave at any time.
The transfer system would be far from the only thing America’s stolen from Europe. And if it were implemented, Neymar’s world record might be shattered within seconds.