In Varsity Green, Mark Yost cuts through clichés and common misconceptions to take a hard-eyed look at the current state of college athletics. He takes readers behind the scenes of the conspicuous and high-revenue business of college sports in order to dissect the enormous television revenues, merchandising rights, bowl game payoffs, sneaker contracts, and endorsement deals that often pay state university coaches more than the college president, or even the governor.Money ...

What began on the dusty racetracks of the rural South is now a world-class enterprise, as closely watched by Wall Street as by hometown racing fans. How NASCAR grew from its provincial roots to become a big business of international proportions is the story Mark Yost tells in The 200-MPH Billboard.A seasoned sports and business reporter for the Wall Street Journal and contributor to the New York Times and the Sports Business Journal, Yost demysti...

What happens when three financial industry whiz kids and certified baseball nuts take over an ailing major league franchise and implement the same strategies that fueled their success on Wall Street? In the case of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, an American League championship happens—the culmination of one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history.In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team’s Cinderella jou...

In Scorecasting, University of Chicago behavioral economist Tobias Moskowitz teams up with veteran Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim to overturn some of the most cherished truisms of sports, and reveal the hidden forces that shape how basketball, baseball, football, and hockey games are played, won and lost.Drawing from Moskowitz's original research, as well as studies from fellow economists such as bestselling author Richard Thaler, the authors look at: the influence home-...

With a labour fight looming, and the NHL's participation in the Olympics hanging in the balance, The Instigator looks at how two decades of lockouts, soaring ticket prices, and on-ice tinkering have convinced many hard-core fans that the NHL's long-time commissioner Gary Bettman is the devil in disguise. In 1992, the gross revenue of the National Hockey League was US$400 million. This season, the figure will be closer to $2.8 billion-a seven-fold increase. Even if that were the only criter...

The legendary college football head coach tells his captivating story—from rural Wyoming to law school to the upper echelons of the SEC.A New York Times BestsellerSwing Your Sword is the first ever book by one of the most fascinating and successful coaches in sports. A maverick who took an unlikely path to coaching through law school, Mike Leach talks about his unorthodox approach to coa...

There are really two games, the one you see and the one you don't. The way I see it, the best way to use access to both worlds is to illuminate and reveal, not idolize and adore. It's better to be wrong than to be played for a fool. – Colin CowherdIn this age of billion dollar athletic marketing campaigns, “feel good” philosophy with no connection to reality, and a Sports Media echo chamber that’s all too eager swallow whatever idiotic notion happens to be in vogue at the ...

Larry McKenzie, the only coach to win four back-to-back state titles in the 100 year history of the Minnesota State Boys Basketball tournament is sharing his success strategies for winning on the court and in life. Much More than just a Game is a must read for young athletes and their parents navigating the game. Incorporating 10 life lessons, Coach McKenzie shows why BASKETBALL is merely a metaphor and a tool that can be used to transform lives.

Professional sports in America: it’s all about fair play and the goal of winning championships. At least that’s the spin. But could it be a massive showbiz operation filled with greedy owners, crooked referees, and coddled players, all with the unstated goal of grabbing as much money as possible?Author Brian Tuohy provides a full-sourced saga of the corruption that has infected the storied histories of the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, and NASCAR.With reality obscured by a complacent...

The New York Times bestseller Endzone tells the story of how one of college football's most successful, richest and respected programs, the University of Michigan, almost lost it all in less than a decade--and entirely of its own doing.It is a story of hubris, greed, and betrayal--a tale more suited to Wall Street than the world's top public university.Author John U. Bacon takes you inside the offices, the board rooms and the locker rooms o...

"On a handshake, I've trusted Donald Dell with my life." -Arthur Ashe, U.S. Open championGood negotiators know the rules. Great negotiators know when to break those rules. And then there are the true master dealmakers, like the pioneering sports lawyer Donald Dell. Over the last four decades, he has fought for some of the biggest stars in the world-Michael Jordan, Jimmy Connors, Patrick Ewing, Andy Roddick, Stan Smith, and dozens of others.Dell is tough eno...

The “riveting” (Al Michaels) story of a modern NFL that can’t get out of its own way—and can’t stop making moneyIn recent decades, the NFL has simultaneously become an athletic, financial, and cultural powerhouse—and a League that can’t seem to go more than a few weeks without a scandal. Whether it’s about domestic violence, performance-enhancing drugs, racism, or head trauma, the NFL always seems to be in some kind of trouble. Yet no matter the drama, the TV netwo...