Description
Book SynopsisThis timely book offers a critical interpretation of the traditional social and economic accounts of sport. It provides an incisive analysis of professional sport and defines alternative foundations to the present model. The authors demonstrate that professional sport is an extremely complex phenomenon encompassing many unique factors depending on its global reach, financing and organization.
In particular they address three significant issues:
- an analysis of the relationship between sport and economic development in order to explain the place of professional sport in modern societies
- a study of the main difficulties facing the organization of professional sports in terms of financing, collective bargaining and the consequences of revenue sharing for competitive balance
- an exploration of alternatives to current governance structures which would involve a return to professional ethics.
This insightful and topical book is essential for academics and students of sport management, researchers of the economics of sport, managers of clubs and federations involved in professional sports, as well as civil servants and journalists.
Trade Review‘One of the strong points of the book is the global perspective taken by the authors. . . The authors make a convincing case that professional sport is a phenomena of richer countries, both in terms of demand and supply, and of sporting success. . . I liked the book. . .’ -- Ruud H. Koning, Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction 1. The Economic History of Professional Sport 2. Significance and Measurement of the Economic Impact of Professional Sport 3. Economic Development and Sporting Performance on a Worldwide Scale 4. What is at stake in the New Economic Relationships between Professional Sport and Television? 5. The Segmentation of the Sports Labour Market: Three Examples 6. Models of Organization of Professional Sport and Competitive Balance 7. The False Justification of Sport as a Global Public Good 8. Doping as a By-Product of Professional Sport Conclusion References Index
