The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business

Collected here, for the first time, are more than 100 essays written between 1998 and 2006 on the sports industry by one of the nation's leading sports economists. Provocative, fact-filled, and tightly argued, these essays are essential reading for every sports fan. They delve into some of the most important sports business issues of the last fifteen years, including the financing of new stadiums, the financial value of professional teams, revenue sharing programs, the flaws in "competitive balance" plans, walkouts and lockouts, the cost of college sports programs, and the fallout from Congressional hearings on steroid use by professional athletes. Andrew Zimbalist writes with well-earned authority, and impressive ease, about the principal sports in the U.S.-major league baseball, basketball, hockey, and the NCAA. Along with being an unmatched "numbers guy," Zimbalist is clearly a sports fan himself. Even casual readers will find that their "sports I.Q." skyrockets after reading these perceptive, insightful essays.