Chapotony Chatano here, internet's busiest hogposter, and it's time for another edition of "Let's Argue", where we're on the internet, we accept your hot takes, unpopular opinions, and tough questions, and we struggle sesh over all of them. Leeeeet's, GO!
No, they’re still selling their labor to capitalists. The means aren’t their muscles, tendons, etc., the means are the physical spaces and less physical organizations that enable the game. If the NFL was a essentially a union and all the teams and stadiums were owned equally by players and coaches as cooperatives, then they would own the means of production.
I was thinking of sponsorships as a side hustle, and they're maybe, like, the equivalent of handicraftsmen just when it comes to their side hustle. They're creating something (coolness), and selling it to a company while not having any employees to exploit.
For the rest of their work, they're definitely workers imo.