One of the most influential sportsmen of the late 20th century, Johnny
F. Bassett's marketing wizardry belied his impact on professional hockey
and football. A Canadian showman with a Barnumesque flair for spectacle,
Bassett challenged the orthodoxy of sports, building sporting utopias in
the fatally flawed World Football League, World Hockey Association, and
United States Football League. He catered to the common fan, demanded
fair treatment of athletes, and forced the sporting establishment to
change the way it did business, often to his own detriment. Drawing on
archival research and interviews with Bassett's contemporaries, this
comprehensive biography chronicles his life in and around professional
sports: his quixotic attempt to compete with the Maple Leafs; his
stunning coup in signing three members of the reigning Super Bowl
champions for his WFL team; his battles with the Canadian government
over American football; his audacious marketing of hockey in Alabama;
and his rivalry with Donald Trump for the soul of the USFL.