In the 1990s, players are earning record salaries and owners are making
record profits in each of the pro team sports. However, the unrest that
has accompanied these windfalls is staggering. There was the
cancellation of the 1994 World Series because of a players strike, and
Art Modell's decision to move one of the most successful franchises in
football history because he wanted a new stadium and that's just the
beginning. Now available for the first time in paperback, this veritable
bible of sports economics clearly explains the effects of salary caps,
the reasons why owners fear antitrust hearings in Washington, why
sweetheart deals for new stadiums are becoming the norm, and why
everyone is making so much money in sports at the expense of the
fan".Quirk demonstrates that decisions made in the executive offices of
sports franchises can be as fascinating as, and can influence, what
happens in the games. All Americans are involved in the sports business
as ticket-buyers, tax- payers, and participants in the culture that
shapes and is shaped by professional sports. So there should be a wide
readership for this intelligent guide to reading newspapers' sports
pages, which increasingly resemble business pages". George Will"Call
this volume The Wealth of Nations' of professional sports. Unrivaled in
scope, the [book] should stand for quite some time as the basic work
from which all descendants will spring". Steve Gietschier, The Sporting
News
