Kunzmann 1

Will Kunzmann

Mr. Campbell

English 12 Pd. 7

2 February 2022

Steroid Use in Professional Sports

Professional sports need to be more entertaining and athletes need to advance with

their sports as time goes on. Anabolic steroids should be allowed in professional sports in order

to raise performance in players, for better play, and to give players a chance to break seemingly

unbreakable records, engage fans with more exciting game play, and to bring in more money

for professional teams. Although steroids have been given a negative reputation, they do

greatly increase the potential for the human body while only having minimal negative effects. In

fact they increases hormone production in humans which allows for them to get stronger and

faster than ever while also allowing for quicker recovery times. With all these benefits it would

bring professional sports to a whole other level.

Anabolic steroids improve human capabilities by increasing the maximum possible

hormone production in the body. This allows for greater potential physically in speed and

strength. Currently steroids have been banned from most professional events because it is seen

as giving players an unfair advantage over the rest of the opponents. Legalizing it would give

players the opportunity to compete at the same higher level, so it is not seen as unfair, but

rather a common practice to better athletes. This could give athletes who may just be average

in their career a chance to be remembered as one of the greats of their time or of all time.

Since it is currently seen as such an unfair advantage, that shows how much they can positively
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increase performance. One article states” Steroids and doping will help pitchers to throw

harder, home runs to go further, cyclists to charge for longer and sprinters to test the very

limits of human speed,” which is what people want to see and what athletes want to

accomplish (Smith). They would positively increase the sports for everyone. Along with this it

can also increase the amount an athlete can workout, and allow for quicker recoveries and

returns to sports. “Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may reduce the muscle

damage that occurs during a hard workout, helping athletes recover from the session more

quickly and enabling them to work out harder and more frequently” (Mayo). Because anabolic

steroids provide these positive impacts they should be legalized for use in sports.

With an increase in performance it would draw more fans into stadiums, as well as

increase viewership of sporting events. Currently about 59 percent of Americans say they are

sports fans,” about one percent less than 22 years ago in 2000 (Jones). This shows that there is

room for growth in the coming years, welcoming more fans to all sports leagues. The lead cause

for more fans would be better play and competition among teams. People love to see the crazy

plays where athletes almost appear to be doing the impossible, acting almost “super-human”.

With these plays occurring more often it would draw more players to watch games live rather

than just looking up the stats after a game is over. Although sports are a big part of society in

the United States already, this could increase not only in the U.S. but all over the world.

Although sports viewership is increasing from its low points during Covid, it still could be better.

Sports that get minimal attention would have many more fans and the sports like soccer,

football, baseball, and basketball would increase fans to new levels. With women’s sports

getting much less views than men’s they need something to boost fans. People shy away from
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women’s sports because “its going to seem to be a slower game, and its going to seem to be

less exciting...[and] elite female athletes are simply not equal to their male counterparts in

terms of physical ability” (Bodenner). Steroid use would allow women to do more things that

get fans excited in men’s sports. For example the amount of women dunks in basketball is

miniscule compared to the amount of dunks in men’s basketball. With dunks being considered

an exciting play in basketball, this would drive more fans to watch women’s sports if they

happened more often. Steroids would allow players to exceed beyond the current expectations

set for them, and with that would increase the amount of fan interest. With better sporting

performances there would be more interested fans.

With more fans watching and attending sporting events, the teams would generate

more money. With this money they would be able to even further better themselves. Along

with this they can use the money to upgrade stadiums and potentially get more top-level

players on a team. This would also attract more attention to a team. Teams with well

performing players will end up getting better sponsorship deals which is how they will make

bulk of their money, also “The NFL relies on its star athletes to keep fans coming back”

(Eckstein). Along with other leagues, teams will continually keep and grow the amount of fans

with star players performing well, leading them to make more money. One of the best ways

teams make money are ticket sales, the selling of team paraphernalia, mostly jerseys, and the

money they make on their brand. After winning games, specifically playoff games, good

seasons, and great plays jersey sales tend to go up for specific players. During week 1 of the NFL

season Jalen Hurts played a very good game. The following weeks his jersey sales skyrocketed

almost “500 percent in sales… as he is off to a great start to the 2021 season” (Clark). This
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shows that as athletes perform better they will produce more sales, increasing profits for the

league and for themselves. It is quite simple, if more players are playing well, the more fans will

want to purchase teams items. All of these sources of income would increase with better

performing athletes, which is good for all parties involved. The teams can then go spend this

money on things to increase fan happiness, so that everyone involved in sports is happy.

With sports being such a popular part of most cultures today, allowing athletes to use

anabolic steroids would positively effect many parts of the sports world. Athletes would

perform at new levels that have never been seen, it would draw more fans towards sports and

entertain them more, and it would increase the economy in the sports world. For these reasons

steroid use should be legalized in the professional sports setting.

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Works Cited

4 Bodenner, Chris. Why Aren’t Women’s Sports as Big as Men’s? Your Thoughts. The Atlantic,
The Atlantic, 9 June 2015, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/women-and-sports-
world-cup-soccer/395231/.

6 Clark, Jordanna. Jalen Hurts jerseys are flying off the shelves after hot start. Fansided, Fansided, 14
September 2021, fansided.com/2021/09/14/jalen-hurts-jerseys-selling-eagles/.

5 Eckstein, Jakob. How the NFL Makes Money. Investopedia, Investopedia, 27 January 2022,
www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/062515/how-nfl-makes-money.asp.

3 Jones, Jeffrey M.. As Industry Grows, Percentage of U.S. Sports Fans Steady. Gallup, Gallup, 17 June
2015, news.gallup.com/poll/183689/industry-grows-percentage-sports-fans-steady.aspx.

2 Mayo Clinic Staff. Performance-enhancing drugs: Know the risks. Mayo Clinic, Mayo Clinic, 4
December 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/performance-enhancing-drugs/art-
20046134.

1 Smith, Chris. Why It’s Time to Legalize Steroids in Professional Sports. Forbes, Forbes, 24
August 2012, www.forbes.com/sites/chrissmith/2012/08/24/why-its-time-to-legalize-steroids-in-
professional-sports/?sh=1c2abbcf65d2.