The Use of Steroids in Sports
- 1. The Use of Steroids in Sports, a Prisoner’s Dilemma
Goutam Sudhir
The advances in medicine and technology have made today’s athletes bigger,
stronger, and faster than any time in the past. Much of these advances have taken place in
terms of nutrition and training, however, many athletes are forced to turn to other means
in order to gain a competitive edge. The current drug of choice is anabolic steroid, a
synthetic drug that boosts testosterone levels in the user which then allows the body to
“retain dietary proteins” which then allows for the user gain more muscle and strength
("Anabolic Steroids."). Steroids can be taken either orally or via injection, however oral
consumption can lead to harmful side effects on the user’s liver. However, taking steroids
via injection can still have harmful side effects such as reduced sperm count, clotting
disorder, premature heart attacks and strokes, as well as elevated cholesterol levels. It can
also cause mood swings and fits of rage and violence. Some of these side- effects may take
years and even decades to surface ("Steroid Effects: Abuse of Anabolic Steroids.").
Players
In the case of professional athletes, many have an incentive to use steroids in order
to gain an advantage that can be beneficial in terms of negotiating a new contract. Take
professional baseball as an example. Steroids will allow for the player to be stronger and
hit the ball farther, or for a pitcher to throw the ball a little faster. This could lead to an
increase in the number of home runs and strikeouts, two statistics that are used to measure
the success of a particular player. However, if every player were to use steroids, then no
one player would be able to gain an advantage. Everyone will be able to hit the ball a little
farther or throw it a little faster. While a player’s overall production may rise, his
- 2. production relative to every other player will remain the same since everyone will have an
increase in their statistics. In fact, each player will actually be worse off due to the side-
effects that are a result of taking steroids which can be harmful to their long- term help.
In the following case, consider two professional baseball players. If only one were to
take steroids, then the user’s production, relative to his competitors would rise. The steroid
user would gain a competitive edge and thus be comparably more productive. However, if
they were to both take steroids, both of their production would rise. However, since both
are using the drug, neither is able to gain a competitive advantage and thus their
production relative to the others remains the same. In fact, the amount of benefit they
receive from taking steroids would fall (Palmer). This is because neither is able to gain an
edge over the other and both will have to deal with the possibly deadly side- effects.
However, if neither were to take steroids, then neither has an unfair competitive advantage
and their production is a result of their natural ability.
Payoff Matrix
Player 1
Player 2
Take Steroids Don’t Take
Take Steroids 1.5, 1.5 4,1
Don’t Take 1,4 2,2
The payoff matrix indicates that if Player 1 takes steroids whereas Player 2 does not
take steroids, then Player 1 will earn four million dollars (Bradbury). This is because the
player that takes steroids will have an increase in production relative to the player that
doesn’t. This rise in production will lead to an increase in a player’s salary. However, if both
players were to take anabolic steroids, then both of their production would rise, leading to
their relative production to stay the same. This would cause teams to keep the salaries of
- 3. the players the same because the production of every player has risen. No player is able to
differentiate themselves from the rest of the field. This leads to the salary of the players to
remain the same at two million. However, due to the negative side- effects of steroids, there
is half a million estimated cost of taking steroids such as the subsequent doctor visits or
general cost of taking steroids (Bradbury). If neither player takes steroids, then their salary
is based on their natural ability and production and is estimated at two million dollars
(Bradbury).
Outcomes
Based on the payoff matrix, both players would be better off if neither of them were
to take steroids. Their individual salary would be two million dollars, which would lead to
their combined salary to be four million dollars. However, if one player were to abstain
from taking steroids, then the other player would be incentivized to take it. This would lead
to an increase in salary for the user to rise to four million dollars. The salary of the player
that does not use steroids would fall to one million dollars for a combined salary of five
million dollars. However, the player who does not take steroids has an incentive to now
take steroids in order to raise their salary. This causes both players taking steroids and
their individual salaries to be one point five million dollars for a combined salary of three
million dollars. In this situation, both players would be better off if neither were to take
steroids. In fact, individual salaries would be half a million dollars higher.
Possible Cooperation
One way to create a level of cooperation is to cause the cost of taking steroids to be
too high. One way to achieve this goal is to create a drug testing system in which any player
