A fundamental reevaluation of how to be a sports fan by an acclaimed
baseball writer.
Sports fandom isn't what it used to be. Owners and executives
increasingly count on the blind loyalty of their fans and too often act
against the team's best interest. Sports fans are left deliberating not
only mismanagement, but also political, health, and ethical issues.
In Rethinking Fandom: How To Beat The Sports Industrial Complex at Its
Own Game, sportswriter (and lifelong sports fan) Craig Calcaterra
outlines endemic problems with what he calls the Sports-Industrial
Complex, such as intentionally tanking a season to get a high draft
pick, scamming local governments to build cushy new stadiums, actively
subverting the players, bad stadium deals, racism, concussions, and
more. But he doesn't give up on professional sports. In the second half
of the book, he proposes strategies to reclaim joy in fandom: rooting
for players instead of teams, being a fair-weather fan, becoming an
activist, and other clever solutions.
With his characteristic wit and piercing commentary, Calcaterra argues
that fans have more power than they realize to change how their teams
behave.