The sports industry is large, visible, and growing--and it has a huge impact on society. That's obvious to die-hard fans who not only watch sporting events but buy everything from balls to ties to paperweights with their favorite team's logo. But even sports haters can't escape the onslaught of professional sports: They are asked to chip in as taxpayers to build public stadiums, and their children are, like it or not, exposed to events sponsored by alcohol and tobacco companies, not to mention the juvenile antics of star athletes. Businesses, of course, take a hit in productivity when the Olympics--or World Series or Super Bowl or World Cup--rolls around. Yet most of us love to watch, and play. The Business of Sports takes on this endlessly fascinating behemoth of an industry to make sense of it all.
Yes, sports is big business. How big? Estimates of total annual U.S. spending on sporting goods and services range from $250 to $560 billion a year, and spending related to organized sport alone has been estimated at $200 billion per year. And it's getting bigger, casting an ever-larger shadow over the entire globe. The Business of Sports throws light on the subject by exploring the business and economic dynamics of the industry from a diverse array of perspectives that cover the industry's macroeconomic, management, and marketing/promotion issues. --Volume 1, Perspectives on the Sports Industry, documents the current size, scope, and magnitude of the sports industry in the U.S. and abroad--including the U.K. and China. It also examines the importance of the world's most visible sporting events, like the Olympics, and the impact of sporting events broadcast around the world. --Volume 2, Economic Perspectives on Sport, takes an in-depth look at the sports industry from an economic perspective. The volume delves into the inner workings of leagues and teams, covering economic issues from the design of sports leagues to franchise financial valuations to salary caps to labor relations. --Volume 3, Bridging Research and Practice, fills the gap between scholarly research on sport and practitioners working in the industry. Topics include evaluating talent, maintaining managerial efficiency, analyzing statistical performance indices, and assessing the noneconomic benefits of professional sports. Business and sports are a potent mix of two of the strongest forces moving our society today. And, as the stratospheric salaries of professional athletes indicate, the industry is going through major growth and change. To make sense of it all, it helps to understand the underlying economic principles driving the business decisions made daily by owners and managers in all corners of the world. The unique, multivolume format of The Business of Sports allows sports nuts, journalists, business people, and students to explore the wide variety of issues that fuel the world's crazy passion for all things athletic.
About the Author: BRAD R. HUMPHREYS is the Chair in the Economics of Gaming and an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His research on the economics and public policy of sports has been published in such journals as the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and the Journal of Sports Economics. His views have been featured in Sports Illustrated, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He has also contributed chapters to The Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport and the Handbook of Sports Economic Research.
DENNIS R. HOWARD is the Philip H. Knight Professor of Business at the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. He joined the Lundquist College in 1997 after serving six years as the Director of the Graduate Program in Sport Management at Ohio State University. He has published numerous articles on the marketing, financing, and management of sports in such journals as the Journal of Sport Management, Marketing Management, and Sport Marketing Quarterly. He is coauthor of the textbook Financing Sport.
