Playbooks and Checkbooks: An Introduction to the Economics of Modern Sports

by Stefan Szymanski

What economic rules govern sports? How does the sports business differ from other businesses? Playbooks and Checkbooks takes a fascinating step-by-step look at the fundamental economic relationships shaping modern sports. Focusing on the ways that the sports business does and does not overlap with economics, the book uncovers the core paradox at the heart of the sports industry. Unlike other businesses, the sports industry would not survive if competitors obliterated each other to extinction, financially or otherwise--without rivals there is nothing to sell. Playbooks and Checkbooks examines how this unique economic truth plays out in the sports world, both on and off the field.


Noted economist Stefan Szymanski explains how modern sporting contests have evolved; how sports competitions are organized; and how economics has guided antitrust, monopoly, and cartel issues in the sporting world. Szymanski considers the motivation provided by prize money, uncovers discrepancies in players' salaries, and shows why the incentive structure for professional athletes encourages them to cheat through performance-enhancing drugs and match fixing. He also explores how changes in media broadcasting allow owners and athletes to play to a global audience, and why governments continue to publicly fund sporting events such as the Olympics, despite almost certain financial loss.


Using economic tools to reveal the complex arrangements of an industry, Playbooks and Checkbooks illuminates the world of sports through economics, and the world of economics through sports.

Genres: Economics, Sports

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Professor of Sport Management at the University of Michigan. I am an economist whose research is focused on the business and economics of sports, as well as their culture and history. I write books to reach a wider audience than is feasible through the peer-reviewed academic papers that have been the mainstay of my career. I also write occasionally for the Soccernomics blog and tweet from time to time from @ssz.

(source: Amazon)

Reviews

[Abdullah-isa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of great discussion points from the economic arguments for/against the Olympics, the incentives for different actors across sport and game theory.
I very much enjoyed this read

[FiveBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalist Tom Chatfield of Prospect has chosen to discuss Stefan Szymanski's Playbooks and Checkbooks , on FiveBooks as one of the top five on his subject - Videogames, saying that:

“It’s a very compelling account of the unusual economics that have grown up in the last century around the extraordinarily profitable arena of sports. It’s interesting because, in order to make it work, in order to make the money, you have to indulge in all sorts of practices that defy conventional economics.”

The full interview is available here: http://five-books.com/interviews/tom-chatfield