The Bottom Line

by Zimbalist, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9781592135134
• ISBN10: 1592135137
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-28
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr

Summary

Collected here, for the first time, are more than 100 essays written between 1998 and 2006 on the sports industry by one of the nation's leading sports economists. Provocative, fact-filled, and tightly argued, these essays are essential reading for every sports fan. They delve into some of the most important sports business issues of the last fifteen years, including the financing of new stadiums, the financial value of professional teams, revenue sharing programs, the flaws in "competitive balance" plans, walkouts and lockouts, the cost of college sports programs, and the fallout from Congressional hearings on steroid use by professional athletes.Andrew Zimbalist writes with well-earned authority, and impressive ease, about the principal sports in the U.S.-major league baseball, basketball, hockey, and the NCAA. Along with being an unmatched "numbers guy," Zimbalist is clearly a sports fan himself. Even casual readers will find that their "sports I.Q." skyrockets after reading these perceptive, insightful essays.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(7)
PART I. Team Management, Finances, and Value
So You Want to Own a Big-League Ball Team?	8	(3)
Capital Needs, Political Realities Fuel New Interest in Sports Offerings	11	(3)
A Miami Fish Story	14	(4)
Take Stock in the Tribe	18	(2)
Has Milstein Lost His Mind? Not Hardly	20	(2)
If the Redskins Are Worth $800 Million ...	22	(7)
The NFL's New Math	29	(2)
Don't Cry for Woody	31	(2)
Ticket Prices and Players' Salaries: The Real Story	33	(2)
Yes, It's about Money	35	(1)
The NFL's Economic Success	36	(2)
How Much Are the Red Sox Worth?	38	(2)
MLB in the Aftermath of September 11	40	(2)
MLB by the Numbers, but Who's Buying?	42	(3)
Baseball by the Numbers	45	(2)
The Mets Are Worth More Than $391 Million	47	(2)
The Sports Franchise Market Is Stronger Than Many Think	49	(2)
Flawed Financial Analysis of NHL Skates on Thin Ice	51	(3)
Baseball's New Numbers: Doom and Gloom or Blip and Fit?	54	(3)
Baseball's New Management Culture Is a Work in Progress	57	(3)
$53 Million for Pedro? How Do You Figure?	60	(4)
PART II. League Structure, Design, and Performance
Fewer Families Own Sports Teams: It's OK	64	(2)
If Competitive Balance Spoils the Show, Congress Waits in the Wings	66	(3)
Selig, Players Both Err Early Regarding Competitive Balance	69	(2)
Talent Decompression and Competitive Balance in Major League Baseball	71	(2)
Minor-League Basketball: There's a Right Way and a Wrong Way	73	(2)
The Commissioner's New Clothes	75	(2)
Baseball's Competitive Balance and the Amateur Draft	77	(3)
Baseball's Blue Ribbon Panel: Good News and Bad News	80	(3)
NFL's Revenue Sharing Saps Will to Win?	83	(2)
The Sports Industry during Recessions	85	(2)
On Contraction, Selig Should Change His Mind Again	87	(2)
Un-Fair Ball	89	(2)
Competitive Balance Is a Problem	91	(2)
How to Reform the NHL's Economic System	93	(3)
MLS Remains Minor League, World Cup Notwithstanding	96	(2)
Beantown's New Brain Trust Touches All the Fans' Bases	98	(2)
The NFL's Report Card	100	(3)
Trading Deadline Activity Raises Issue of Baseball's Competitive Integrity	103	(3)
The Gold in Baseball's Diamond	106	(2)
What Went Wrong with WUSA?	108	(2)
Money Game: Baseball's Short-Lived Rally	110	(2)
No Reason to Break Up the Yankees	112	(2)
More Financial Smoke and Mirrors from MLB	114	(2)
Enough Already: Time to Award D.C. a Franchise	116	(2)
Tweaking the NFL Juggernaut	118	(2)
Single Entity, Though Alluring, Won't Solve Hockey's Problems	120	(2)
British Soccer Fans, Kicked Again (with Stefan Szymanski)	122	(4)
McClatchy Is Barking Up the Wrong Tree	126	(4)
PART III. Stadiums: Financing, Mega-Events, and Economic Development
Fan Freedom and Community Protection Act of 1996	130	(3)
What's BOB Really Worth to Phoenix?	133	(2)
Football Stadium Folly	135	(2)
When Teams Move, Protecting Both Fans and Owners Is Tricky	137	(2)
Now You See the Patriots, Now You Don't: NFL Musical Chairs	139	(2)
Flawed Specter Bill Gets an A for Effort	141	(3)
A Tale of Facilities in Two Cities: Boston and Green Bay	144	(2)
Share of Ballpark: $16 a Year	146	(3)
Cards' Offer Is in the Ballpark	149	(2)
New York City Can Do Better	151	(1)
The NFL and Los Angeles: Here We Go Again	152	(2)
Live from New York City: Inflation, Traffic—and the Olympics!	154	(2)
Renovating the Stadiums: The Real Economic Story	156	(2)
Foxboro's Gillette Stadium: A Model for Others to Ponder	158	(2)
Games People Play	160	(2)
Straight Talk on Stadiums	162	(2)
More Benevolence in Stadium Games	164	(2)
New York Facility Triad Is Good News	166	(2)
Economic Impact of the Olympics Doesn't Match the Hype	168	(4)
PART IV. Antitrust and Labor Relations
Take Me Out to the Cleaners	172	(2)
Batter Up, Already	174	(2)
Team Profitability and Labor Peace	176	(2)
This Bud's for a Salary Cap	178	(2)
Let the Market Rule the Basketball Court	180	(3)
The NBA Lockout: Who's Dropping the Ball?	183	(4)
The NBA Lockout: A Postmortem	187	(4)
"Jordan Effect" Won't Rescue the NBA	191	(2)
NBA Players Are Doing Fine, Thank You	193	(2)
Contraction and Baseball's Antitrust Exemption?	195	(2)
Baseball's Addition through Subtraction Just Doesn't Add Up	197	(3)
Baseball's Game of Smoke and Mirrors	200	(2)
Baseball and D.C. for All the Wrong Reasons	202	(4)
All Right All You Lawyers, Play Ball!	206	(2)
Baseball: A Deal Can Get Done	208	(3)
Labor Relations Heating Up in the NBA	211	(3)
The New Baseball Labor Agreement Is Already at Work	214	(2)
NHL: Time to Stop Blowing Smoke and Start Real Bargaining	216	(4)
A-Rod Capture Makes Dollars and Sense	220	(2)
What to Do about the Hockey Mess	222	(2)
Hockey Owners Give Their Sport a Slap Shot	224	(2)
Monopoly's Money	226	(4)
PART V. College Sports and Gender Equity
College Sports: Surplus or Deficit?	230	(3)
Make Freshmen Ineligible: Only Good Can Come of It	233	(2)
Real Reform, Not Tinkering, Is Needed in College Sports	235	(3)
The NCAA Has Lost Its Way	238	(3)
Unsportsmanlike Conduct	241	(2)
CBS's Big NCAA Deal Is No Cure for What's Ailing College Sports	243	(2)
Win One for the Gipper	245	(2)
Backlash against Title IX: An End Run around Female Athletes	247	(4)
Has March Madness Gone Mad?	251	(2)
Pay for Play in College Sports: Think Twice	253	(2)
College Athletic Success and Donations: Evidence Is Not Encouraging	255	(2)
The NCAA's New Financial Status Report: Good News or Bad?	257	(2)
College Is Not for Everyone	259	(2)
Should College Athletes Be Paid?	261	(1)
Making the (Up)Grade: Tougher Than It Looks	262	(2)
Another Bowl Game Is Not What the NCAA Needs	264	(2)
Numbers, Facts Don't Back Title IX Critics	266	(3)
The BCS Is Ripe for Reform	269	(3)
Clarett Has a Compelling Case for NFL Eligibility	272	(3)
Let Jeremy Bloom Ski and Play Wide Receiver	275	(3)
Curb Coaches' Salaries and Preserve Title IX Gains	278	(3)
Final Word: Million-Dollar Contracts for College Coaches Make Little Sense	281	(3)
PART VI. Media and the Regulation of Steroids
Extreme Is Mediocre and XFL Is the Name	284	(2)
The Increasingly Complex Sports Media Landscape	286	(2)
No Easy Answers for MLB's Steroid Scandal	288	(3)
Reflections on the Super Bowl	291	(2)
In Steroids Hearings, Congress Has Its Eye on the Wrong Ball	293	(2)
Anti-Doping: Settle In for the Long Haul	295	(2)
Index	297