“An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights from the Economics of Sports”
Reviewed by Robbie Butler
Paul Oyer’s “An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights from the Economics of Sports” is a fun and highly enjoyable way to explore the brilliant world of economics through the lens of sport.
The book takes readers on a journey through a collection of sports stories, introducing some of the world’s most famous athletes along the way, and demonstrates how core economic concepts are at the very heart of these multibillion-dollar industries. Oyer clearly has a passion for both and uses his deep understanding of economics to identify issues such as opportunity cost, prisoners’ dilemma, and domestic product.
At the outset, the author uses some very nice personal stories of parenting a young child – which I can very much relate to – to demonstrate some of his early insights. Readers are offered insights into his memories of Little League matches and, later in the book, highly competitive table tennis games at home, which are both intuitive and nostalgic. Readers that grew up with competitive parents, siblings or children will immediately understand.
A subtle difference between this book and offerings that currently exist in this space is that it is written by a leading economist with an interest in sport, rather than a sports economist. There is a difference, and those that have little or no understand of core concepts in economics will thoroughly enjoy the examples and stories throughout and learn something along the way.
The early chapters of the book look at parental ‘investment’ in children, why people cheat in sport and whether elite athletes are worth all that money!? As Oyer points out early on “Youth is one of the most valuable resources you will ever possess”, and with the passage of time this becomes all the clearer. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Steph Curry are used to demonstrate how ‘investment’ can work out – but the probability of success is so low you might be better off doing the lottery.
Comparative (or maybe even absolute) advantage is demonstrated by the success of Norwegian skiers. It helps that Norway has lots of snow. Oyer then goes onto explain why east African runners have dominated long distant running. They naturally don’t make good skiers. There’s some tennis and women’s golf along the way, and he explains the importance of role models like tennis giant Martina Navratilova in shaping women’s tennis in the Czech Republic. Role models matter and path dependency is important.
Cycling provides the prefect prism for the famous prisoner’s dilemma. What does a clean cyclist do if they know everyone else is cheating? The magnificence of Usain Bolt is then described with readers left to question if something is too good to be true, can it be real?
Oyer’s clear passion and skill with labour economics comes to the fore when the pay and performance of leading US athletes is addressed in Chapter 4. One thing this enabled me to do was learn about sports and sports stars and franchises that I am not terribly familiar with, because the book has a clear America focus. There is not much European football (soccer) and reference to other sports, for example horse racing, using American examples when illustrating a point. Non-US readers may learn many new aspects of US sport, while the US audience will readily relate to the players, coaches and teams. MLA, NBA, and NFL dominate many of the examples, which is appropriate given the origins of the field in 1956.
And Rottenberg (1956) makes an appearance in the text. Oyer also speaks to many prominent sports economists and names such as Szymanski, Zimbalist, and Noll – household names in sports economics – are drawn upon.
The latter part of the book addresses more provocative issues such as discrimination in sport, taxpayer subsidies for major sporting events, the business of scalpers and why people gamble. All were fun and insightful but Chapter 7 “How Do Ticket Scalpers Make the World a Better Place?” really caught my attention. It’s a brilliant exploration of this world and the chapter knits together concepts like demand and supply, dynamic pricing, price discrimination and strategic behaviour, with the world of baseball, basketball, and hockey tickets. The book is worth reading for this chapter alone!
Chapter 8 confirms what we already knew – don’t build a stadium with taxpayers’ money or hold a major sporting event unless you want to make a significant loss. The chapter is a nice update on earlier contributions and begins and ends with the lucky escape of Kazakhstan, and the not so lucky Japanese and Russian taxpayers. But they are not alone, and a plethora of American’s are currently paying for publicly funding stadiums for local franchises that could at any point decide to relocate.
Sports gambling – a relatively new legal pursuit in the US market – brings the book to a close. The importance of gamble as a leisure activity (“I’m happy to lose a little because I consume the excitement of awaiting the outcome”) is brought to the fore. And while issues with problem gambling are addressed and explored, and it is acknowledged there are probably much more productive ways to spends one’s money, Oyer stands firm that people can spend as they see fit and there is “nothing wrong with people enjoying themselves”.
A small bit of overtime/extra time sees a hat tip to the failed Super League in Europe. Association football does not appear prominently and the Super League – an American driver project – might make for a fun follow-up. It could consume an entire book!
Paul Oyer’s “An Economist Goes to the Game: How to Throw Away $580 Million and Other Surprising Insights from the Economics of Sports” is a fun and highly enjoyable way to explore the brilliant world of economics through the lens of sport.
The book takes readers on a journey through a collection of sports stories, introducing some of the world’s most famous athletes along the way, and demonstrates how core economic concepts are at the very heart of these multibillion-dollar industries. Oyer clearly has a passion for both and uses his deep understanding of economics to identify issues such as opportunity cost, prisoners’ dilemma, and domestic product.
At the outset, the author uses some very nice personal stories of parenting a young child – which I can very much relate to – to demonstrate some of his early insights. Readers are offered insights into his memories of Little League matches and, later in the book, highly competitive table tennis games at home, which are both intuitive and nostalgic. Readers that grew up with competitive parents, siblings or children will immediately understand.
A subtle difference between this book and offerings that currently exist in this space is that it is written by a leading economist with an interest in sport, rather than a sports economist. There is a difference, and those that have little or no understand of core concepts in economics will thoroughly enjoy the examples and stories throughout and learn something along the way.
The early chapters of the book look at parental ‘investment’ in children, why people cheat in sport and whether elite athletes are worth all that money!? As Oyer points out early on “Youth is one of the most valuable resources you will ever possess”, and with the passage of time this becomes all the clearer. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Steph Curry are used to demonstrate how ‘investment’ can work out – but the probability of success is so low you might be better off doing the lottery.
Comparative (or maybe even absolute) advantage is demonstrated by the success of Norwegian skiers. It helps that Norway has lots of snow. Oyer then goes onto explain why east African runners have dominated long distant running. They naturally don’t make good skiers. There’s some tennis and women’s golf along the way, and he explains the importance of role models like tennis giant Martina Navratilova in shaping women’s tennis in the Czech Republic. Role models matter and path dependency is important.
Cycling provides the prefect prism for the famous prisoner’s dilemma. What does a clean cyclist do if they know everyone else is cheating? The magnificence of Usain Bolt is then described with readers left to question if something is too good to be true, can it be real?
Oyer’s clear passion and skill with labour economics comes to the fore when the pay and performance of leading US athletes is addressed in Chapter 4. One thing this enabled me to do was learn about sports and sports stars and franchises that I am not terribly familiar with, because the book has a clear America focus. There is not much European football (soccer) and reference to other sports, for example horse racing, using American examples when illustrating a point. Non-US readers may learn many new aspects of US sport, while the US audience will readily relate to the players, coaches and teams. MLA, NBA, and NFL dominate many of the examples, which is appropriate given the origins of the field in 1956.
And Rottenberg (1956) makes an appearance in the text. Oyer also speaks to many prominent sports economists and names such as Szymanski, Zimbalist, and Noll – household names in sports economics – are drawn upon.
The latter part of the book addresses more provocative issues such as discrimination in sport, taxpayer subsidies for major sporting events, the business of scalpers and why people gamble. All were fun and insightful but Chapter 7 “How Do Ticket Scalpers Make the World a Better Place?” really caught my attention. It’s a brilliant exploration of this world and the chapter knits together concepts like demand and supply, dynamic pricing, price discrimination and strategic behaviour, with the world of baseball, basketball, and hockey tickets. The book is worth reading for this chapter alone!
Chapter 8 confirms what we already knew – don’t build a stadium with taxpayers’ money or hold a major sporting event unless you want to make a significant loss. The chapter is a nice update on earlier contributions and begins and ends with the lucky escape of Kazakhstan, and the not so lucky Japanese and Russian taxpayers. But they are not alone, and a plethora of American’s are currently paying for publicly funding stadiums for local franchises that could at any point decide to relocate.
Sports gambling – a relatively new legal pursuit in the US market – brings the book to a close. The importance of gamble as a leisure activity (“I’m happy to lose a little because I consume the excitement of awaiting the outcome”) is brought to the fore. And while issues with problem gambling are addressed and explored, and it is acknowledged there are probably much more productive ways to spends one’s money, Oyer stands firm that people can spend as they see fit and there is “nothing wrong with people enjoying themselves”.
A small bit of overtime/extra time sees a hat tip to the failed Super League in Europe. Association football does not appear prominently and the Super League – an American driver project – might make for a fun follow-up. It could consume an entire book!
Sports Economics Uncut
Reviewed by John Considine
While the back cover of Brian Goff’s Sports Economics Uncut (2018) gives a pretty good summary of the contents of the book, it is only after reading the book that one can appreciate the description. It is worth focusing on some of the blurb and expanding the meaning of some of the terms.
It is rightly claimed that the book “explores provocative questions”. Three questions are listed; and, the reader will note that two of them include the word “racial”. Much of the book is devoted to a “fascinating” and “eye-opening” examination of these questions. The examination involves “easy to digest data” that is “accessible to a wide audience” (but priced in a way that will deter many). In many ways these descriptions undersell the excellent job that the book does. In the chapter titled “How markets penalize racists, slowly”, Goff presents data that makes comparisons over time and comparisons across sports. But he is also aware of the value judgments that the analysis calls upon. Drilling into the data provides insights but it also replaces one set of provocative questions with others, e.g. “Should managerial percentages reflect the percentage of black players in the sport, the percentage of blacks in the general population, or some-thing in between?”
The book draws on the literature in economics that deals with discrimination. Gary Becker and Thomas Schelling feature. In the only co-authored chapter (“Segregation with and without discrimination”), Goff and Dennis Wilson examine the issue of “positional discrimination”. One section of this chapter uses the concept of comparative advantage to explain specialisation. It is sections like this that make it a sports economics book. Too often economists minimise basic economic theory when it comes to sport analysis. Non-economists may point to some deficiencies in our approach but that is the point. This is a sports economics book. The word “economics” is in the title.
Economic theory is used to guide and interpret the data in other areas. In a chapter titled “Bill Belichick as economist”, Goff wonders why we treat many economic agents as risk-averse but seem to presume that managers should be risk-neutral. The chapter opens with a discussion of a Belichick decision from November 2009. Goff shows how the data lends support to the decision that Belichick made despite the widespread criticism that he received. I remember an economist friend of mine at the time saying that “Belichick is sometimes too smart for his own good”.
The use of particular examples to motivate the discussion of topics is widely used in the book. The Belichick example opens chapter 5. A sporting example from 2001 and the death of Freddie Gray arrested by police in 2015, opens the following chapter (“Throwing bottles in Cleveland”). Sensitive to the enormous difference in significance of these events, Goff draws parallels between our attitude to law enforcement in sport and wider society. (It is worth noting that the book was published in 2018.)
The choice of examples to open chapters helps motivate and illustrate the issues. Enough detail is provided for those who don’t know of the example. This is important because the use of examples that stretch into the twentieth-century will mean that younger readers might not readily understand the significance. The use of predominately US examples might make it difficult for those outside that region to follow (there is a chapter “Upside down in the Premier League” and the Olympics features in a number of places as a benchmark for comparison).
Issues of discrimination dominate the book. Or more correctly, the book examines what motivates differences in groups of suppliers of sporting entertainment. It does this by examining differences over time and difference between sports. Frequently, it uses these comparisons to make us stop and think about the central issue being examined. Why does the time profile and extent of racial integration differ between NFL and MLB? Why is the distribution of rewards different in professional sport versus amateur (college) sports?
It would be easy for the reader to think that the first two chapters do not easily fit with the remainder of the book. These first two chapters are about demand side of sport (“Why consumers wear sports gear” and “How MLB figured out its fans”). The title to chapter 1 is slightly misleading. The chapter doubles as an introduction to the rest of the book. The role of the fan/consumer is probably a little underdeveloped. A bit more development might have facilitated a greater discussion of a very important point made in the third chapter where Goff says “Besides managerial biases, discriminatory outcomes may grow out of the attitude of other players or consumers”. This is a small complaint as Goff does provide data to quantity the induced consumer bias.
Chapter 2 prompts us to think about what the fans of different sports demand. Again, the approach is to contrast sports. NFL versus MLB when it comes to television audiences. Women’s soccer versus women’s tennis in comparison to the male counterparts. The chapter could act as a warning against governing bodies seeking to align the women’s and men’s games.
The author explains that the publishers sought the inclusion of the word “uncut” in the title. I would describe the book as slicing and dicing selected topics in sports using data and economic theory. In this respect it does a fine job.
While the back cover of Brian Goff’s Sports Economics Uncut (2018) gives a pretty good summary of the contents of the book, it is only after reading the book that one can appreciate the description. It is worth focusing on some of the blurb and expanding the meaning of some of the terms.
It is rightly claimed that the book “explores provocative questions”. Three questions are listed; and, the reader will note that two of them include the word “racial”. Much of the book is devoted to a “fascinating” and “eye-opening” examination of these questions. The examination involves “easy to digest data” that is “accessible to a wide audience” (but priced in a way that will deter many). In many ways these descriptions undersell the excellent job that the book does. In the chapter titled “How markets penalize racists, slowly”, Goff presents data that makes comparisons over time and comparisons across sports. But he is also aware of the value judgments that the analysis calls upon. Drilling into the data provides insights but it also replaces one set of provocative questions with others, e.g. “Should managerial percentages reflect the percentage of black players in the sport, the percentage of blacks in the general population, or some-thing in between?”
The book draws on the literature in economics that deals with discrimination. Gary Becker and Thomas Schelling feature. In the only co-authored chapter (“Segregation with and without discrimination”), Goff and Dennis Wilson examine the issue of “positional discrimination”. One section of this chapter uses the concept of comparative advantage to explain specialisation. It is sections like this that make it a sports economics book. Too often economists minimise basic economic theory when it comes to sport analysis. Non-economists may point to some deficiencies in our approach but that is the point. This is a sports economics book. The word “economics” is in the title.
Economic theory is used to guide and interpret the data in other areas. In a chapter titled “Bill Belichick as economist”, Goff wonders why we treat many economic agents as risk-averse but seem to presume that managers should be risk-neutral. The chapter opens with a discussion of a Belichick decision from November 2009. Goff shows how the data lends support to the decision that Belichick made despite the widespread criticism that he received. I remember an economist friend of mine at the time saying that “Belichick is sometimes too smart for his own good”.
The use of particular examples to motivate the discussion of topics is widely used in the book. The Belichick example opens chapter 5. A sporting example from 2001 and the death of Freddie Gray arrested by police in 2015, opens the following chapter (“Throwing bottles in Cleveland”). Sensitive to the enormous difference in significance of these events, Goff draws parallels between our attitude to law enforcement in sport and wider society. (It is worth noting that the book was published in 2018.)
The choice of examples to open chapters helps motivate and illustrate the issues. Enough detail is provided for those who don’t know of the example. This is important because the use of examples that stretch into the twentieth-century will mean that younger readers might not readily understand the significance. The use of predominately US examples might make it difficult for those outside that region to follow (there is a chapter “Upside down in the Premier League” and the Olympics features in a number of places as a benchmark for comparison).
Issues of discrimination dominate the book. Or more correctly, the book examines what motivates differences in groups of suppliers of sporting entertainment. It does this by examining differences over time and difference between sports. Frequently, it uses these comparisons to make us stop and think about the central issue being examined. Why does the time profile and extent of racial integration differ between NFL and MLB? Why is the distribution of rewards different in professional sport versus amateur (college) sports?
It would be easy for the reader to think that the first two chapters do not easily fit with the remainder of the book. These first two chapters are about demand side of sport (“Why consumers wear sports gear” and “How MLB figured out its fans”). The title to chapter 1 is slightly misleading. The chapter doubles as an introduction to the rest of the book. The role of the fan/consumer is probably a little underdeveloped. A bit more development might have facilitated a greater discussion of a very important point made in the third chapter where Goff says “Besides managerial biases, discriminatory outcomes may grow out of the attitude of other players or consumers”. This is a small complaint as Goff does provide data to quantity the induced consumer bias.
Chapter 2 prompts us to think about what the fans of different sports demand. Again, the approach is to contrast sports. NFL versus MLB when it comes to television audiences. Women’s soccer versus women’s tennis in comparison to the male counterparts. The chapter could act as a warning against governing bodies seeking to align the women’s and men’s games.
The author explains that the publishers sought the inclusion of the word “uncut” in the title. I would describe the book as slicing and dicing selected topics in sports using data and economic theory. In this respect it does a fine job.
The Age of Football - the Global Game in the Twenty-First Century
By David Butler
At 676 pages long, David Goldblatt’s latest book pitches itself as an exploration of society, politics, economics and football in the 21st century. A lofty aim. While I might have some general reservations with the content, I think it's fair to say this is a work of great scope. It brings together so many different aspects of the sport - this is not an easy task and the author deserves credit for even taking on such a big project.
The book charts the growing popularity of the game internationally and details the extent to which, for better (but mostly for worse), how governments and major institutions have become increasingly interwoven into the fabric of the sport. In short, the book is about the globalisation of the game and the associated social implications of this – these vary according to the political institutions of countries.
Even for those who follow the sport, there is plenty to be learned from the book. In particular, Goldblatts experience of the sport in different continents shines through. In this sense, the book is very authentic and the author's passion is apparent.
He begins by considering African football in chapter 1, providing a sharp reminder of the challenges the sport faces. He documents the type and scale of corruption that takes place, the atrocities that scarcely make mainstream news in Europe (or are barely remembered) and the decline of the domestic game.
Chapter 2 considers the sport in the Middle East, focusing on how religious objectives can interfere with football from an operational perspective. Here, Goldblatt covers how political and religious leanings can impact, for example, women’s rights and discusses how the wealth of Arab states can be used to mobilise football as a foreign policy tool. The purchase of PSG is the archetype.
As the book progress, the game in other continents are considered. Chapter 4 was of most interest to me as he explores European football. Goldblatt takes the view that much progress has been made but populism in the fringes of Europe remains worrying. Also, despite the stronger European institutions in operation relative to other parts of the football body, the gap between the haves and have-nots is staggering.
Asian football and South America football are discussed at length in chapters 5 and 6. As with most of the book, the extent of corruption in the sport features prominently here. If anything, documenting the types and degree of corruption is the unifying theme of the book. In the context of South America, the corruption lens is focussed on the role of oligarchs and drug-lords.
If exploring corruption is central to the book, it would be remiss not to consider the role of FIFA. This is reserved for the penultimate chapter. Goldblatt describes this as ‘a case study’ of how a major institution was exempt from scrutiny for a prolonged period of time. This was another good chapter for me, maybe because I had a greater base knowledge of the events. For many of the other continents I was starting from scratch so to speak.
The League of Ireland also features in the book and, like writers before him, Goldblatt is quick to note the leagues decline since the 1960’s. This is discussed in the context of the monster that is the Premier League – Goldblatt notes that over 100,000 Irish fans leave the country each year as football tourists.
The book is clearly a big project and is not a light read for the casual fan. Given the global take on the sport and how it is divided, some chapters will naturally interest readers more than others. It is packed full of detail. If I was being critical this is overwhelming and can become a bit of a laundry list of facts. On occasion, a better narrative is sacrificed for even more examples.
Also, at times, I think the author is looking back with rose tinted glasses. I agree the game is less ‘romantic’ now and, no doubt, more corporate but there has also been dramatic improvements in a range of areas (e.g. safety standards) . Playing devil’s advocate, I think the book can be selective with the scenarios discussed.
I would recommend this less to those with a background in economics. The book focuses moreso on society and politics - perfect for students of history, politics or sociology. They may get more from this.
At 676 pages long, David Goldblatt’s latest book pitches itself as an exploration of society, politics, economics and football in the 21st century. A lofty aim. While I might have some general reservations with the content, I think it's fair to say this is a work of great scope. It brings together so many different aspects of the sport - this is not an easy task and the author deserves credit for even taking on such a big project.
The book charts the growing popularity of the game internationally and details the extent to which, for better (but mostly for worse), how governments and major institutions have become increasingly interwoven into the fabric of the sport. In short, the book is about the globalisation of the game and the associated social implications of this – these vary according to the political institutions of countries.
Even for those who follow the sport, there is plenty to be learned from the book. In particular, Goldblatts experience of the sport in different continents shines through. In this sense, the book is very authentic and the author's passion is apparent.
He begins by considering African football in chapter 1, providing a sharp reminder of the challenges the sport faces. He documents the type and scale of corruption that takes place, the atrocities that scarcely make mainstream news in Europe (or are barely remembered) and the decline of the domestic game.
Chapter 2 considers the sport in the Middle East, focusing on how religious objectives can interfere with football from an operational perspective. Here, Goldblatt covers how political and religious leanings can impact, for example, women’s rights and discusses how the wealth of Arab states can be used to mobilise football as a foreign policy tool. The purchase of PSG is the archetype.
As the book progress, the game in other continents are considered. Chapter 4 was of most interest to me as he explores European football. Goldblatt takes the view that much progress has been made but populism in the fringes of Europe remains worrying. Also, despite the stronger European institutions in operation relative to other parts of the football body, the gap between the haves and have-nots is staggering.
Asian football and South America football are discussed at length in chapters 5 and 6. As with most of the book, the extent of corruption in the sport features prominently here. If anything, documenting the types and degree of corruption is the unifying theme of the book. In the context of South America, the corruption lens is focussed on the role of oligarchs and drug-lords.
If exploring corruption is central to the book, it would be remiss not to consider the role of FIFA. This is reserved for the penultimate chapter. Goldblatt describes this as ‘a case study’ of how a major institution was exempt from scrutiny for a prolonged period of time. This was another good chapter for me, maybe because I had a greater base knowledge of the events. For many of the other continents I was starting from scratch so to speak.
The League of Ireland also features in the book and, like writers before him, Goldblatt is quick to note the leagues decline since the 1960’s. This is discussed in the context of the monster that is the Premier League – Goldblatt notes that over 100,000 Irish fans leave the country each year as football tourists.
The book is clearly a big project and is not a light read for the casual fan. Given the global take on the sport and how it is divided, some chapters will naturally interest readers more than others. It is packed full of detail. If I was being critical this is overwhelming and can become a bit of a laundry list of facts. On occasion, a better narrative is sacrificed for even more examples.
Also, at times, I think the author is looking back with rose tinted glasses. I agree the game is less ‘romantic’ now and, no doubt, more corporate but there has also been dramatic improvements in a range of areas (e.g. safety standards) . Playing devil’s advocate, I think the book can be selective with the scenarios discussed.
I would recommend this less to those with a background in economics. The book focuses moreso on society and politics - perfect for students of history, politics or sociology. They may get more from this.
The Club - How the English Premier League Became the Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports
Reviewed By David Butler
The Club tells the story of how the Premier League became a global sports entertainment business. In just 317 pages it does a good job. While the authors are keen to stress that the book is not about key moments on the pitch (although many are mentioned) nor an attempt to offer an exhaustive history of the league, the book provides a worthy account of how the Premier League 'product’ has evolved.
To start, it is worth complementing the authors on their background work. The book is based on an impressive list of interviews held with over a hundred individuals central to the Premier League's initiation and development, many of whom rarely speak publically, and include the likes of Rick Parry, Irving Scholar, John Henry, Daniel Levy and Peter Kenyon to name but a few.
The book has five parts and begins by telling the quite well-known story of how the Premier League came to be, providing some context to the highly charged negotiations between bigger clubs, smaller clubs and the football league. The Sky vs ITV story is a great read even when one is familiar with the general ongoing. What follows is a loosely chronological story in that the authors do not offer a season by season analysis but rather consider the general trends from 1992 to 2017.
Clegg and Robisnon chart the first mover advantage and early dominance of Manchester United and rightly remind us that the first successful attempt to ‘buy the league’ came from Blackburn’s Jack Walker. Time is dedicated to the internationalisation of the Premier League - this is focussed around the arrival of Arsene Wenger and the impact of the Bosman Ruling The implications of Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea and later Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of Manchester City follow and take up significant space.
A nice aspect of the book is that it's not all about the well-known major projects such as Chelsea or Manchester City. The authors tell interesting stories about (the craziness of) Bradford’s rise and decline, Randy Lerner’s well-intentioned but failed Aston Villa project and the bizarre scenes associated with Mohammed Al Fayed’s reign at Fulham. That’s just naming some of the less famous content in the book there’s lots more. One slight let down was that the Leeds United story did not feature more but then again this is detailed well in similar books.
There’s many great anecdotes in the book, several of which I knew of (and I’m sure will be known by keen enthusiasts) but some will likely be new. For instance Winston Bogarde’s failed spell in the Premier League and Willian’s medical at Spurs before signing for Chelsea were not new to me but the insights on Sir Alex’s meeting with Ronaldo concerning a move to Real Madrid were new. In that sense, I’m guessing there will be some new nuggets of information for all.
A backdrop is offered to many well researched ideas in sports economics. In the later chapters of the book the authors discuss competitive balance more and the links to revenue maximisation for leagues. They offer interesting thoughts on how different owner motivations exist between American sports and European soccer when it comes to the concept of league-wide balance. A brief time is also spent considering the role of salaries and the correlation between wages and sporting success. Finally, rights sales and auctions are discussed at length throughout the book, in particular a great context is offered to how the Premier League rights sales internationalised.
The book ends by considering the idea of things going full circle. Once again major clubs may want to break away. The authors consider the growing importance of pre-season tours to revenue, the infamous 39th fixture and the possibility of a European Super league. All in all, The Club was a good read and was well written. It would be a decent starting point for anyone who wanted a sketch of the major phases and salient points in the leagues development.
The Club tells the story of how the Premier League became a global sports entertainment business. In just 317 pages it does a good job. While the authors are keen to stress that the book is not about key moments on the pitch (although many are mentioned) nor an attempt to offer an exhaustive history of the league, the book provides a worthy account of how the Premier League 'product’ has evolved.
To start, it is worth complementing the authors on their background work. The book is based on an impressive list of interviews held with over a hundred individuals central to the Premier League's initiation and development, many of whom rarely speak publically, and include the likes of Rick Parry, Irving Scholar, John Henry, Daniel Levy and Peter Kenyon to name but a few.
The book has five parts and begins by telling the quite well-known story of how the Premier League came to be, providing some context to the highly charged negotiations between bigger clubs, smaller clubs and the football league. The Sky vs ITV story is a great read even when one is familiar with the general ongoing. What follows is a loosely chronological story in that the authors do not offer a season by season analysis but rather consider the general trends from 1992 to 2017.
Clegg and Robisnon chart the first mover advantage and early dominance of Manchester United and rightly remind us that the first successful attempt to ‘buy the league’ came from Blackburn’s Jack Walker. Time is dedicated to the internationalisation of the Premier League - this is focussed around the arrival of Arsene Wenger and the impact of the Bosman Ruling The implications of Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea and later Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of Manchester City follow and take up significant space.
A nice aspect of the book is that it's not all about the well-known major projects such as Chelsea or Manchester City. The authors tell interesting stories about (the craziness of) Bradford’s rise and decline, Randy Lerner’s well-intentioned but failed Aston Villa project and the bizarre scenes associated with Mohammed Al Fayed’s reign at Fulham. That’s just naming some of the less famous content in the book there’s lots more. One slight let down was that the Leeds United story did not feature more but then again this is detailed well in similar books.
There’s many great anecdotes in the book, several of which I knew of (and I’m sure will be known by keen enthusiasts) but some will likely be new. For instance Winston Bogarde’s failed spell in the Premier League and Willian’s medical at Spurs before signing for Chelsea were not new to me but the insights on Sir Alex’s meeting with Ronaldo concerning a move to Real Madrid were new. In that sense, I’m guessing there will be some new nuggets of information for all.
A backdrop is offered to many well researched ideas in sports economics. In the later chapters of the book the authors discuss competitive balance more and the links to revenue maximisation for leagues. They offer interesting thoughts on how different owner motivations exist between American sports and European soccer when it comes to the concept of league-wide balance. A brief time is also spent considering the role of salaries and the correlation between wages and sporting success. Finally, rights sales and auctions are discussed at length throughout the book, in particular a great context is offered to how the Premier League rights sales internationalised.
The book ends by considering the idea of things going full circle. Once again major clubs may want to break away. The authors consider the growing importance of pre-season tours to revenue, the infamous 39th fixture and the possibility of a European Super league. All in all, The Club was a good read and was well written. It would be a decent starting point for anyone who wanted a sketch of the major phases and salient points in the leagues development.
The Ascent
Reviewed by John Considine
When this website was accidently launched in the summer of 2013, the “About” page stated that “it is an analysis of issues in sport from those with an economic perspective”. Keeping this in mind, as a 53 year old economist, with an interest in sport, I would say that The Ascent by Barry Ryan is one of the best sports books of the last number of years.
This book jogs the memory and emotions. It also stimulates the brain. One of the reasons I like this book so much is that I tend to see things in a similar light to the author. When it came to deciding one’s favourite, I was always on the side of Sean Kelly and against Stephen Roche. While Kelly is clearly the book’s hero, I was surprised how my appreciation of Roche increased after reading the book.
Chapter 15 (The Fab Four and The Fifth Beatle) will appeal to the sports fan and economist in almost equal measure. It contains one of the more inspirational moments from Irish sport. It involves the World Road Championships race in 1987. Primarily because of the size of the Irish team, the cyclists had only a vague strategy for the race. However, the tactics evolved and became more focused as the race developed. At a crucial stage, two of the five-man team helped keep the flame alive for the two giants of Irish and world cycling at the time. That left it up to Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. Kelly and Roche covered their respective bases. The race unfolded in Roche’s favour and he took full advantage. As Roche crossed the line, “Kelly flung his arms skywards at the same time. Rather than continue his attempt to battle for a medal, he freewheeled across the line in 5th place, punching the air three times as he did so” (p258).
Chapter 15 also contains the story of the fifth man on that five-man team. Alan McCormack was the least well-known of the group. The equivalent of the fifth Beatle. The Fab Four were Kelly, Roche, Martin Earley and Paul Kimmage. Alan McCormack’s career is probably of as much interest to the economist as the sports person. There are his contracts and financial rewards in the UK, Belgium, and the US, e.g. “I made $100,000 in 1985.” There is the $5,000 in financial costs to compete in the Worlds and there was no formal financial rewards for McCormack’s participation in the team. By contrast, Roche passed off a £1,000 wedding present to Paul Kimmage as a bonus for his help in the race. Typical Roche. He had a tendency to say things that took from the occasion and his reputation.
Barry Ryan leaves the reader in little doubt that money greases the wheels of cycling. There is a quote from Kelly on page 156 that explains so much. Kelly says, “Once I got close to turning professional, you can calculate and see what you’re getting and work out what the top ones are getting. So definitely money was the motivator. At the end of your career, maybe not so much.” An economist would not be surprised by the dominant influence of financial incentives (although some economists might struggle to deal with the changing preferences). The quote is fully supported by Kelly’s reaction to a couple of bronze medals won at the Worlds. The second one clearly indicated to him he was not going to get the medal he so dearly valued. He was gutted.
One can’t but feel for Kelly. And that is the beauty of the book. As we share Kelly’s disappointment with the second bronze medal we already know that he was motivated more by fortune than fame. We already know it cost him when it came to the biggest prizes. And we remember the quote from Jan Rass that Kelly was “always beatable because he always has a price” (p187). Barry Ryan does a superb job of allowing us to hold our feelings for Kelly while accepting that he also had to pay a price for his approach.
The ability of Ryan to separate and blend the sport with the economics can be seen throughout. It can be seen at its best in a sentence referring to Paul Kimmage but it has universal application. “Few illusions survive intact when a child’s dream doubles as a man’s job” (p382).
Competition and collusion are never far from the surface. In Chapter 15 one can read an account of the way the victories in the Kellogg’s Series were distributed. Those who were not prepared to collude tended to suffer physically as well as financially. The exchange of victories for finance or favours is not limited to racing in Ireland. Examples abound and are sprinkled throughout the book. Whether the average cycling fan was duped about such collusion is raised early in the book (page 57). A similar theme on chemical doping is also explored throughout.
Where the sports person sees possible cheating, the economist might see innovation and change. There are plenty of examples. Changes in equipment feature occasionally. Changes in chemical supplements feature regularly. Barry Ryan deals with these issues in a non-judgemental fashion – seeking to present context and potential reasons. Consider his discussion of the improved substances available to riders in the early 1990s. Ryan notes the well-documented accounts of riders like Greg Lemond who claim that drugs like EPO meant they were no longer able to compete. Ryan presents it in a way that begs so many questions of Lemond and cycling. For those who get consumed by the doping side of the sport, it is worth looking at some other examples from the book where substances actually damaged performances and cost victories. Again, Ryan presents the historical account and moves on. This is a good approach as most readers will have their mind made up on the issue.
One way to look at the book is as a series of contracts based on performances. But it is more than a collection of facts and figures. There is so much colour to the negotiations. The context and interaction of Kelly and De Gribaldy is fairy tale stuff. While Kelly is sought out by those offering contracts, Roche is more proactive. Roche’s victory in the World Cycling Championship completed his amazing year. He had already won the Giro D’Italia and the Tour de France. In 1988 he moved to a new team after months of seeking better terms and surroundings. As in so many of Roche’s other off-road decisions, he makes a bad job of it. It is on the road that Roche excelled.
What surprised me was the way the book left me with a greater appreciation of Roche. I’m not sure whether this was by the design of the author or by accident. At first reading it is easy to believe that Roche was blessed with natural talent, that his outstanding performances in 1987 were drugs fuelled, and that some of his tactical decisions on the road were sometime traitorous. His inability to keep his mouth shut or, at a minimum, to engage his impartial spectator before talking does not arouse the sympathies of the reader. Nor does Ryan gag Roche. There are plenty of quotes from Roche. Many make me cringe. Roche shows little empathy and deserves little in return. That is how I felt as I read the book.
But, as I reflected on what I had read, I saw things a little differently. Nobody reaches the top of professional cycling without hard work. Labelling someone as "talented" in sport is often a veiled insult. Not surprisingly, Roche is quoted asking people to accept his “talent”. What exactly did Roche have that was not of his own making? Possibly genetics. Or maybe kinetics? The credit goes to his parents or some divinity. Yet, his capacity to put on weight during the winter months seems to be his own fault.
Then there is the credit taken from Roche by the doping culture in sport and by Roche’s association with doctors of dubious distinction. It takes a share of mental gymnastics to believe that Roche gained an unfair advantage over the peloton. That is not to say that Roche was clean but surely drugs did not add to his “natural” advantage. Roche damages his relatively good drug test record with words. Kelly improved his relatively less impressive record with acceptance and silence.
On the road, Roche took advantage of situations – even ones that disadvantaged his team mates and team leader. Rather than being identified as a tactical genius with a ruthless streak, Roche was seen as disloyal. By contrast, Kelly was prepared to do physical damage to rivals like Eric Vanderaerden. The rules of cycling draw a line when it comes to the behaviour of Kelly but the ambiguous ethics of the sport take exception to the behaviour of Roche. Decades later, Vanderaerden entrusted his son to Kelly’s management whereas Roberto Visentini refuses to even meet Roche for team reunions. Visentini felt betrayed but it is clear that Roche was the man in form. What made it worse for Visentini was that Roche “always talked bollocks” (p216). It is hard to disagree.
In 1987 Roche won the Tour de France, the World Cycling Championship, and the Giro D’Italia. It is hard to believe that he would have behaved like Kelly did if the roles were reversed at the Worlds. We will never know. What we do know is that he crossed the line first. One of the greatest on the road.
This book jogs the memory and emotions. It also stimulates the brain. One of the reasons I like this book so much is that I tend to see things in a similar light to the author. When it came to deciding one’s favourite, I was always on the side of Sean Kelly and against Stephen Roche. While Kelly is clearly the book’s hero, I was surprised how my appreciation of Roche increased after reading the book.
Chapter 15 (The Fab Four and The Fifth Beatle) will appeal to the sports fan and economist in almost equal measure. It contains one of the more inspirational moments from Irish sport. It involves the World Road Championships race in 1987. Primarily because of the size of the Irish team, the cyclists had only a vague strategy for the race. However, the tactics evolved and became more focused as the race developed. At a crucial stage, two of the five-man team helped keep the flame alive for the two giants of Irish and world cycling at the time. That left it up to Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche. Kelly and Roche covered their respective bases. The race unfolded in Roche’s favour and he took full advantage. As Roche crossed the line, “Kelly flung his arms skywards at the same time. Rather than continue his attempt to battle for a medal, he freewheeled across the line in 5th place, punching the air three times as he did so” (p258).
Chapter 15 also contains the story of the fifth man on that five-man team. Alan McCormack was the least well-known of the group. The equivalent of the fifth Beatle. The Fab Four were Kelly, Roche, Martin Earley and Paul Kimmage. Alan McCormack’s career is probably of as much interest to the economist as the sports person. There are his contracts and financial rewards in the UK, Belgium, and the US, e.g. “I made $100,000 in 1985.” There is the $5,000 in financial costs to compete in the Worlds and there was no formal financial rewards for McCormack’s participation in the team. By contrast, Roche passed off a £1,000 wedding present to Paul Kimmage as a bonus for his help in the race. Typical Roche. He had a tendency to say things that took from the occasion and his reputation.
Barry Ryan leaves the reader in little doubt that money greases the wheels of cycling. There is a quote from Kelly on page 156 that explains so much. Kelly says, “Once I got close to turning professional, you can calculate and see what you’re getting and work out what the top ones are getting. So definitely money was the motivator. At the end of your career, maybe not so much.” An economist would not be surprised by the dominant influence of financial incentives (although some economists might struggle to deal with the changing preferences). The quote is fully supported by Kelly’s reaction to a couple of bronze medals won at the Worlds. The second one clearly indicated to him he was not going to get the medal he so dearly valued. He was gutted.
One can’t but feel for Kelly. And that is the beauty of the book. As we share Kelly’s disappointment with the second bronze medal we already know that he was motivated more by fortune than fame. We already know it cost him when it came to the biggest prizes. And we remember the quote from Jan Rass that Kelly was “always beatable because he always has a price” (p187). Barry Ryan does a superb job of allowing us to hold our feelings for Kelly while accepting that he also had to pay a price for his approach.
The ability of Ryan to separate and blend the sport with the economics can be seen throughout. It can be seen at its best in a sentence referring to Paul Kimmage but it has universal application. “Few illusions survive intact when a child’s dream doubles as a man’s job” (p382).
Competition and collusion are never far from the surface. In Chapter 15 one can read an account of the way the victories in the Kellogg’s Series were distributed. Those who were not prepared to collude tended to suffer physically as well as financially. The exchange of victories for finance or favours is not limited to racing in Ireland. Examples abound and are sprinkled throughout the book. Whether the average cycling fan was duped about such collusion is raised early in the book (page 57). A similar theme on chemical doping is also explored throughout.
Where the sports person sees possible cheating, the economist might see innovation and change. There are plenty of examples. Changes in equipment feature occasionally. Changes in chemical supplements feature regularly. Barry Ryan deals with these issues in a non-judgemental fashion – seeking to present context and potential reasons. Consider his discussion of the improved substances available to riders in the early 1990s. Ryan notes the well-documented accounts of riders like Greg Lemond who claim that drugs like EPO meant they were no longer able to compete. Ryan presents it in a way that begs so many questions of Lemond and cycling. For those who get consumed by the doping side of the sport, it is worth looking at some other examples from the book where substances actually damaged performances and cost victories. Again, Ryan presents the historical account and moves on. This is a good approach as most readers will have their mind made up on the issue.
One way to look at the book is as a series of contracts based on performances. But it is more than a collection of facts and figures. There is so much colour to the negotiations. The context and interaction of Kelly and De Gribaldy is fairy tale stuff. While Kelly is sought out by those offering contracts, Roche is more proactive. Roche’s victory in the World Cycling Championship completed his amazing year. He had already won the Giro D’Italia and the Tour de France. In 1988 he moved to a new team after months of seeking better terms and surroundings. As in so many of Roche’s other off-road decisions, he makes a bad job of it. It is on the road that Roche excelled.
What surprised me was the way the book left me with a greater appreciation of Roche. I’m not sure whether this was by the design of the author or by accident. At first reading it is easy to believe that Roche was blessed with natural talent, that his outstanding performances in 1987 were drugs fuelled, and that some of his tactical decisions on the road were sometime traitorous. His inability to keep his mouth shut or, at a minimum, to engage his impartial spectator before talking does not arouse the sympathies of the reader. Nor does Ryan gag Roche. There are plenty of quotes from Roche. Many make me cringe. Roche shows little empathy and deserves little in return. That is how I felt as I read the book.
But, as I reflected on what I had read, I saw things a little differently. Nobody reaches the top of professional cycling without hard work. Labelling someone as "talented" in sport is often a veiled insult. Not surprisingly, Roche is quoted asking people to accept his “talent”. What exactly did Roche have that was not of his own making? Possibly genetics. Or maybe kinetics? The credit goes to his parents or some divinity. Yet, his capacity to put on weight during the winter months seems to be his own fault.
Then there is the credit taken from Roche by the doping culture in sport and by Roche’s association with doctors of dubious distinction. It takes a share of mental gymnastics to believe that Roche gained an unfair advantage over the peloton. That is not to say that Roche was clean but surely drugs did not add to his “natural” advantage. Roche damages his relatively good drug test record with words. Kelly improved his relatively less impressive record with acceptance and silence.
On the road, Roche took advantage of situations – even ones that disadvantaged his team mates and team leader. Rather than being identified as a tactical genius with a ruthless streak, Roche was seen as disloyal. By contrast, Kelly was prepared to do physical damage to rivals like Eric Vanderaerden. The rules of cycling draw a line when it comes to the behaviour of Kelly but the ambiguous ethics of the sport take exception to the behaviour of Roche. Decades later, Vanderaerden entrusted his son to Kelly’s management whereas Roberto Visentini refuses to even meet Roche for team reunions. Visentini felt betrayed but it is clear that Roche was the man in form. What made it worse for Visentini was that Roche “always talked bollocks” (p216). It is hard to disagree.
In 1987 Roche won the Tour de France, the World Cycling Championship, and the Giro D’Italia. It is hard to believe that he would have behaved like Kelly did if the roles were reversed at the Worlds. We will never know. What we do know is that he crossed the line first. One of the greatest on the road.
Football Leaks
Reviewed by John Considine.
Most readers will be wiser and better informed about the business of football contracts after reading the three hundred pages in this book. There is information and illumination a plenty. It is the ability of Rafael Buschmann and Michael Wulzinger to link these pieces of information that is likely to keep the reader interested. It is easy to slip from one short chapter to the next. There is always a promise of something more or something different.
Seventy-five pages into the book is the start of the sixth chapter. Here the contracts of a number of players are compared. Differences are explained. Very illuminating. The chapter ends with a discussion of some of the details found in the contracts of Mario Balotelli. It might be natural to expect more of the focused analysis to follow. However, at the start of chapter seven there is a preamble where the reader is told that what is to follow is different. The reader is told that it involves the interaction of one of the authors with the source of the information. Contract details continue to flow but the systematic approach of chapter six gets lost.
The accounts of the interaction between Rafael Buschmann and the whistle-blower disappoint. Admittedly there are restrictions imposed by the whistle-blower but it is hard to understand the character and motivation of the individual. In addition to being a technological expert, he is fluent in a number of languages, and is able to identify the value in antiques that others miss. On top of this he seems to possess amazing human skills if one is to judge by his ability to manage a network of information sources and elicit warm responses from those who he has just met. Yet he does not seem to possess any real character. Maybe somethings get lost in translation.
We are told, nearly asked to believe, that the whistle-blower is not a hacker. He insists the information came through his network of contacts. The authors do not press him enough, or themselves, on this matter. Nor is the matter of potential blackmail dealt with in a convincing fashion. It is a pity.
Contrast the whistle-blower and his treatment by the authors with the footballers and their treatment by the courts. The recent treatment of the footballers can be found in a chapter called “The Earthquake”. It is the longest chapter in the book. Located at the end of the book, it is worth the wait. A series of footballers told the courts that they focused on football and allowed others to take care of their finances. The UEFA President lent his support to this perspective. (The history of well-paid sports stars ending their days in poverty should also lend support.) A footballer focusing on football is just the specialisation and division of labour. However, as the courts point out, that does not remove the responsibility from the players.
Footballers are just taking “a page out of the book of big multinational companies like Google, Apple, Starbucks or Amazon” (p44). They are becoming tax tourists. The book suggests that the financial structures established by tax tourists are designed to keep money away from the prying eyes of the tax authorities. Provided it is legal, where is the problem? Is the whistle-blower not doing likewise by hosting the Football Leaks website in Russia because “it’s publicaly known Russian authorities rarely cooperate with Western authorities” (p39)?
The introduction of dealing with the whistle-blower in chapter seven does not stem the flow of material on other contracts. Information on contracts involving all sorts continue to be outlined and discussed. Everything from AC Milan to Zlatan.
Given the authors, their employment, and the nationality of the whistle-blower, it is not surprising that the book probably has relatively more material on the contracts of German and Portuguese footballers. Toni Kroos features prominently and the central character is undoubtedly Ronaldo. In this book there is, somewhat surprisingly, no Ronaldo versus Messi debate. Their on-field and off-the-field activities are never compared. A missed opportunity. Messi’s tax difficulties are briefly discussed but a systematic comparison would have been fun.
Given what is found in this book, Kroos might not buy the story that there was heated debate in editorial meeting prior to the publication of details of his contract a couple of years ago. In the case of Kroos, we are told that public interest won the battle against the right to privacy of the individual. We are told others escaped. I'm guessing they escaped until the publication of this book.
Throughout the book the authors explicitly raise numerous questions. Those questions prompted by the behaviour of the fans during the Northern Ireland versus Germany game in Euro 2016 are worth pondering. Answers to most of the questions are rarely provided. In many ways this is one of the strengths of the book. Information is provided and questions are asked. The questions remain after the titillation provided by contract details fade.
However, there is one question that is never explicitly stated or addressed. What would an ideal football system look like? It does not seem to be the current system – even without the tax evasion and other law breaking issues. The whistle-blower is unhappy with the vast sums of money paid to footballers, managers, and their agents. Equipment and sportswear suppliers also come in for criticism. He is also unhappy about the way some people (and even States) are buying control of everything from clubs to player transfer fees.
The sub-title of the book is “uncovering the dirty deals behind the beautiful game”. Dirty deals seems to mean more that illegal ones. Remove the illegal activity from the equation and you are left with the business of football. That does not seem to be enough for the whistle blower (or even the authors). Without a vision for football (or sport), and without a comprehensive character description of the whistle-blower, it is hard to call this a great book. It is a readable, interesting and though-provoking book.
Seventy-five pages into the book is the start of the sixth chapter. Here the contracts of a number of players are compared. Differences are explained. Very illuminating. The chapter ends with a discussion of some of the details found in the contracts of Mario Balotelli. It might be natural to expect more of the focused analysis to follow. However, at the start of chapter seven there is a preamble where the reader is told that what is to follow is different. The reader is told that it involves the interaction of one of the authors with the source of the information. Contract details continue to flow but the systematic approach of chapter six gets lost.
The accounts of the interaction between Rafael Buschmann and the whistle-blower disappoint. Admittedly there are restrictions imposed by the whistle-blower but it is hard to understand the character and motivation of the individual. In addition to being a technological expert, he is fluent in a number of languages, and is able to identify the value in antiques that others miss. On top of this he seems to possess amazing human skills if one is to judge by his ability to manage a network of information sources and elicit warm responses from those who he has just met. Yet he does not seem to possess any real character. Maybe somethings get lost in translation.
We are told, nearly asked to believe, that the whistle-blower is not a hacker. He insists the information came through his network of contacts. The authors do not press him enough, or themselves, on this matter. Nor is the matter of potential blackmail dealt with in a convincing fashion. It is a pity.
Contrast the whistle-blower and his treatment by the authors with the footballers and their treatment by the courts. The recent treatment of the footballers can be found in a chapter called “The Earthquake”. It is the longest chapter in the book. Located at the end of the book, it is worth the wait. A series of footballers told the courts that they focused on football and allowed others to take care of their finances. The UEFA President lent his support to this perspective. (The history of well-paid sports stars ending their days in poverty should also lend support.) A footballer focusing on football is just the specialisation and division of labour. However, as the courts point out, that does not remove the responsibility from the players.
Footballers are just taking “a page out of the book of big multinational companies like Google, Apple, Starbucks or Amazon” (p44). They are becoming tax tourists. The book suggests that the financial structures established by tax tourists are designed to keep money away from the prying eyes of the tax authorities. Provided it is legal, where is the problem? Is the whistle-blower not doing likewise by hosting the Football Leaks website in Russia because “it’s publicaly known Russian authorities rarely cooperate with Western authorities” (p39)?
The introduction of dealing with the whistle-blower in chapter seven does not stem the flow of material on other contracts. Information on contracts involving all sorts continue to be outlined and discussed. Everything from AC Milan to Zlatan.
Given the authors, their employment, and the nationality of the whistle-blower, it is not surprising that the book probably has relatively more material on the contracts of German and Portuguese footballers. Toni Kroos features prominently and the central character is undoubtedly Ronaldo. In this book there is, somewhat surprisingly, no Ronaldo versus Messi debate. Their on-field and off-the-field activities are never compared. A missed opportunity. Messi’s tax difficulties are briefly discussed but a systematic comparison would have been fun.
Given what is found in this book, Kroos might not buy the story that there was heated debate in editorial meeting prior to the publication of details of his contract a couple of years ago. In the case of Kroos, we are told that public interest won the battle against the right to privacy of the individual. We are told others escaped. I'm guessing they escaped until the publication of this book.
Throughout the book the authors explicitly raise numerous questions. Those questions prompted by the behaviour of the fans during the Northern Ireland versus Germany game in Euro 2016 are worth pondering. Answers to most of the questions are rarely provided. In many ways this is one of the strengths of the book. Information is provided and questions are asked. The questions remain after the titillation provided by contract details fade.
However, there is one question that is never explicitly stated or addressed. What would an ideal football system look like? It does not seem to be the current system – even without the tax evasion and other law breaking issues. The whistle-blower is unhappy with the vast sums of money paid to footballers, managers, and their agents. Equipment and sportswear suppliers also come in for criticism. He is also unhappy about the way some people (and even States) are buying control of everything from clubs to player transfer fees.
The sub-title of the book is “uncovering the dirty deals behind the beautiful game”. Dirty deals seems to mean more that illegal ones. Remove the illegal activity from the equation and you are left with the business of football. That does not seem to be enough for the whistle blower (or even the authors). Without a vision for football (or sport), and without a comprehensive character description of the whistle-blower, it is hard to call this a great book. It is a readable, interesting and though-provoking book.
It's Football, Not Soccer (And Vice Versa)
Reviewed by John Considine
The content of this book is captured almost perfectly in the sub-title – On the History, Emotion, and Ideology Behind One of the Internet’s Most Ferocious Debates. The debate in question is whether a particular sport should be called football or soccer.
This is a book about dominance and the reaction to it.
In this small book, Stefan Szymanski and Silke-Maria Weineck get to the essence of their argument when they say “To reject a word, in short, is always a play for dominance” (p.107). Using data from the London Times and the New York Times they show that the former publication has switched away from “soccer” and towards “football” since the 1980s. The suggestion is that the switch has to do with UK perceptions of its power relative to the US. That power could be in sport, politics, culture or economics.
The use of a word, just as its rejection, can indicate dominance - “It is always the dominant football code that claims the name football”(p.52). The authors point out that “it is precisely Britain’s former colonies that are most reluctant to follow England’s lead and drop soccer” (p. 44 & 45). Football can refer to American football, Australian football, or Gaelic football. The distinction between American football and Association football dominates the book (look at the cover of the book). The distinction between the football codes in Australia gets a chapter. Ireland gets three paragraphs, the last of which illustrates exactly the issues dealt with in the book.
The first two paragraphs in the section called “Ireland” provide a pretty good description of the engagement with big ball team sports on the island. Then comes the third paragraph. “Much like the New Zealand Herald, the Irish Post asked its readers to decide in 2016 – on twitter, a notoriously skewed medium. A 2015 survey had revealed that soccer (which certainly was what the Irish Post called it in their coverage) was Ireland’s most popular sport, garnering 21% of respondents votes compared to 16% for rugby and gaelic football. Whereas the New Zealand poll had no fewer than 11,350 responses, the Irish didn’t take the bait: only 73 twitter responses are recorded, with 64% opting for football.”
I can almost hear some of the reactions to this paragraph by those who feel strongly about the debate (or about the definition of Ireland). There will be questions and insinuations about using (i) the Irish Post, (ii) the 2015 survey, (iii) nationality of the authors, and (iv) the gender of the authors. I have to imagine these reactions. By contrast, Szymanski & Weineck actually document a wide variety of internet contributions to the debate. In addition, they classify the contributions and strategies in the debate. (In the process, they can’t help themselves but have a few swipes at Ann Coulter.)
While the majority of the dominance in this book is classified as between nations, there is also an important socio-economic dominance. The authors trace the origin of the word soccer to those attending university in Oxford over 100 years ago. Here the students played “rugger” or “soccer”. However, as the professional game run by the Football Association (FA) became more popular, the word football was preferred by those outside the elite. A class based reason for rejection of the word soccer also plays into the mix.
The authors make it repeatedly clear that this book is not the definitive linguistic study of the origin and use of the words “football” and “soccer”. However, it does contribute to the area. Chapter 4 presents graphs and tables arising from a systematic search of electronic resources. They also list some of the more popular book titles to illustrate that “soccer” was widely used by the industry during the third quarter of the twentieth century. The presentation is easy to follow and read. Huge levels of concentration are not required. It is ideal for someone interested, rather than invested, in the topic and who wants some informative but light treatment of it. I enjoyed it.
I would say that this is a sports book and rather than an economics book. However, it is co-written by one of the best known sports economists. When economists debate the definition of economics, someone will say “economics is what economists do”. In that case, it is a sports economics book.
This is a book about dominance and the reaction to it.
In this small book, Stefan Szymanski and Silke-Maria Weineck get to the essence of their argument when they say “To reject a word, in short, is always a play for dominance” (p.107). Using data from the London Times and the New York Times they show that the former publication has switched away from “soccer” and towards “football” since the 1980s. The suggestion is that the switch has to do with UK perceptions of its power relative to the US. That power could be in sport, politics, culture or economics.
The use of a word, just as its rejection, can indicate dominance - “It is always the dominant football code that claims the name football”(p.52). The authors point out that “it is precisely Britain’s former colonies that are most reluctant to follow England’s lead and drop soccer” (p. 44 & 45). Football can refer to American football, Australian football, or Gaelic football. The distinction between American football and Association football dominates the book (look at the cover of the book). The distinction between the football codes in Australia gets a chapter. Ireland gets three paragraphs, the last of which illustrates exactly the issues dealt with in the book.
The first two paragraphs in the section called “Ireland” provide a pretty good description of the engagement with big ball team sports on the island. Then comes the third paragraph. “Much like the New Zealand Herald, the Irish Post asked its readers to decide in 2016 – on twitter, a notoriously skewed medium. A 2015 survey had revealed that soccer (which certainly was what the Irish Post called it in their coverage) was Ireland’s most popular sport, garnering 21% of respondents votes compared to 16% for rugby and gaelic football. Whereas the New Zealand poll had no fewer than 11,350 responses, the Irish didn’t take the bait: only 73 twitter responses are recorded, with 64% opting for football.”
I can almost hear some of the reactions to this paragraph by those who feel strongly about the debate (or about the definition of Ireland). There will be questions and insinuations about using (i) the Irish Post, (ii) the 2015 survey, (iii) nationality of the authors, and (iv) the gender of the authors. I have to imagine these reactions. By contrast, Szymanski & Weineck actually document a wide variety of internet contributions to the debate. In addition, they classify the contributions and strategies in the debate. (In the process, they can’t help themselves but have a few swipes at Ann Coulter.)
While the majority of the dominance in this book is classified as between nations, there is also an important socio-economic dominance. The authors trace the origin of the word soccer to those attending university in Oxford over 100 years ago. Here the students played “rugger” or “soccer”. However, as the professional game run by the Football Association (FA) became more popular, the word football was preferred by those outside the elite. A class based reason for rejection of the word soccer also plays into the mix.
The authors make it repeatedly clear that this book is not the definitive linguistic study of the origin and use of the words “football” and “soccer”. However, it does contribute to the area. Chapter 4 presents graphs and tables arising from a systematic search of electronic resources. They also list some of the more popular book titles to illustrate that “soccer” was widely used by the industry during the third quarter of the twentieth century. The presentation is easy to follow and read. Huge levels of concentration are not required. It is ideal for someone interested, rather than invested, in the topic and who wants some informative but light treatment of it. I enjoyed it.
I would say that this is a sports book and rather than an economics book. However, it is co-written by one of the best known sports economists. When economists debate the definition of economics, someone will say “economics is what economists do”. In that case, it is a sports economics book.
Sport & Ireland - A History
Reviewed by John Considine
Paul Rouse is a historian and his recent book Sport & Ireland is “A History”. It is a book that all those interested in Irish sport should read. It is an ambitious project. It draws on a variety of sources to produce a work rich in detail with many interwoven strands. For all the similarities between these strands, it is the differences between the sports, and the differences between Irish sport and sports as played elsewhere, that adds value.
In considering what Paul Rouse brings to the table with this book, it is worth focusing on a popular 11-a-side team sport, played with a round ball that is roughly 22cm in diameter, the modern rules for which were codified in England in the late nineteenth century. Some Irish people call this game “football”. Other Irish people call it “soccer”. Most will use the words interchangeably. Like Rouse, many refer to association football as soccer “for the sake of clarity”. But a small minority will specifically use either the “football” or “soccer” in a way that carries significance for them. Rouse is not one of these if one is to judge by the ample space devoted to the history of soccer and the relatively little space devoted to the history of gaelic football. The latter gets rolled into gaelic games in a way that hurling does not. It is clear from Sport & Ireland that hurling has a greater historical claim to being a gaelic game.
To begin with, it is worth considering the treatment of soccer in the book. One hundred and fifty years ago the exact name of the game mattered little. A large ball game was play with a variety of localised forms. In England, a dispute over the rules of the game lead to a split. Those who favoured one set of rules went on to form their own association for the promotion of rugby. Those who favoured the other set of rules went on to form their association for the promotion of football. As in many cases, Ireland followed the English lead. However, it was the rugby form of the game that got a head start in Ireland (possibly due to the Irish men who continued to be educated in English public schools). Soccer was slower to establish itself. This changed in 1878 when businessman J.A. McAlery invited two Scottish teams to play a game in Belfast. The game developed in Belfast before spreading to the rest of Ulster and then across the rest of the island.
In England, soccer had to battle for supremacy with rugby. In Ireland, it also had to do battle with gaelic games. Regardless, it prospered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In fact, all the major team sports in Ireland, with the exception of cricket, prospered during this period of political agitation. Why sport prospered, it was far from a steady pattern of growth - particularly for gaelic games. Then came the Great War and everything changed. Changed utterly. As Rouse puts it “sporting change happened at a moment of great political, social, and economic upheaval; this played a major role in shaping modern Irish sport and in ensuring that sport in Ireland held characteristics shared by no other country”.
At the end of the First World War, the game of soccer was “pulling itself asunder” as there was a “mutual suspicion between Belfast and Dublin”. Personal and political conflict resulted in the establishment of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in opposition to the Irish Football Association (IFA). While they initially fought for control of the game on the island, the conflict soon spread to international competitions where both fielded teams known as “Ireland”. The absurdity of it all is captured by the way Manchester United captain, Johnny Carey “played for the IFA Ireland team against England at Windsor Park on 28 February 1946 and did the same for the FAI team at Dalymount Park two days later”. Eventually, against a background of the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign and a declaration of an Irish Republic, the division of responsibilities between the IFA and the FAI was sorted.
The evolution of soccer is only one example of both the distinguishing and common features in the evolution of sport on both sides of the Irish Sea. Urbanisation, privatisation of the commons, industrialisation, and the growth of an association culture, all played a role in the evolution of sport. The fact that these things did not occur evenly across the British Isles meant that sport developed at different rate, and in different ways, in different regions. For example, the scale of industrialisation in England, and associated deforestation, meant that deer hunting prospered in the Celtic fringe. Similarly, the uneven scale of urbanisation on the island of Ireland meant soccer prospered in cities of Belfast and Dublin but less so in the wider countryside. But the distinguishing feature of the book is that this evolution was further shaped by politics. Rouse deals with the development of sport in a geographical area that had its own parliament in the eighteenth century, was subject to the Act of Union in 1801, and was partitioned in the early twentieth century.
Sport & Ireland is also worth reading for the way it unfolds the development of modern sport. This is particularly so for the period before the codification of modern sport in the late nineteenth century. The chronological structure of the book makes it easy to see the links between everyday existence and sport. It is easy to see the links between hunting-for-food and hunting-for-sport. It is easy to see how pastimes became sports. And, it is easy to see how the popularity of these sports grew and waned. It is no surprise to find the pastimes of an agricultural society involving cock-fighting and bull-baiting. Nor is it a surprise to find team sports growing in popularity with the growth of an association culture facilitated by greater urbanisation. But here, as elsewhere in the book, the author will stop the reader to remind them of a salient point. For example, Rouse make a point of stating what should be obvious when we consider sporting gatherings from earlier centuries. These gatherings were organised. Some body, or bodies, had to organise these events. This is an important point to make because it is too easy to fall into a belief that sport only became organised with the major codification that occurred in the nineteenth century.
During the nineteenth century, cock-fighting, bull-baiting and bear-baiting died out as they came under pressure from a small influential minority promoting animal welfare. However, not all sports involving fighting or animal exertions were banned. The Irish with their history of faction fighting must have appreciated the growth in the popularity of boxing. And, according to Rouse, horse racing became the Irish national sport.
For all the wonderful material and detail on sport pre-1850, the best of the book covers the following 100 years. The evolution of soccer in Ireland is but one outstanding example. Another is the development of modern gaelic games. The messy and uncertain development of gaelic games is consistent with the history of other sports. There are apocryphal stories in most sports: William Webb Ellis in rugby; Abner Doubleday in baseball. If baseball has Coopertown then the GAA has Thurles. There is slightly less gilding of the lily about the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is accepted that it took place in Thurles in 1884. There is less awareness that the name of the organisation conveys what actually drove its establishment. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was initially established because of the dissatisfaction of its founders with the “British” version of the Athletic Association. Subsequently, driven by the forces of nationalism, relatively more emphasis was placed on the “gaelic” and relatively less on the “athletic”. Some believed that it was the GAA’s mission to follow the political revolution with a cultural one. “Ultimately, though, they believed too much. Their belief drew them to write and say things that were untrue.” The previous two sentences, quoted from pages 274-5 of Sport & Ireland, illustrate the value of the book. The history of Irish sport, like the history of most things, is a little more complicated than the myths would have us believe.
In considering what Paul Rouse brings to the table with this book, it is worth focusing on a popular 11-a-side team sport, played with a round ball that is roughly 22cm in diameter, the modern rules for which were codified in England in the late nineteenth century. Some Irish people call this game “football”. Other Irish people call it “soccer”. Most will use the words interchangeably. Like Rouse, many refer to association football as soccer “for the sake of clarity”. But a small minority will specifically use either the “football” or “soccer” in a way that carries significance for them. Rouse is not one of these if one is to judge by the ample space devoted to the history of soccer and the relatively little space devoted to the history of gaelic football. The latter gets rolled into gaelic games in a way that hurling does not. It is clear from Sport & Ireland that hurling has a greater historical claim to being a gaelic game.
To begin with, it is worth considering the treatment of soccer in the book. One hundred and fifty years ago the exact name of the game mattered little. A large ball game was play with a variety of localised forms. In England, a dispute over the rules of the game lead to a split. Those who favoured one set of rules went on to form their own association for the promotion of rugby. Those who favoured the other set of rules went on to form their association for the promotion of football. As in many cases, Ireland followed the English lead. However, it was the rugby form of the game that got a head start in Ireland (possibly due to the Irish men who continued to be educated in English public schools). Soccer was slower to establish itself. This changed in 1878 when businessman J.A. McAlery invited two Scottish teams to play a game in Belfast. The game developed in Belfast before spreading to the rest of Ulster and then across the rest of the island.
In England, soccer had to battle for supremacy with rugby. In Ireland, it also had to do battle with gaelic games. Regardless, it prospered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In fact, all the major team sports in Ireland, with the exception of cricket, prospered during this period of political agitation. Why sport prospered, it was far from a steady pattern of growth - particularly for gaelic games. Then came the Great War and everything changed. Changed utterly. As Rouse puts it “sporting change happened at a moment of great political, social, and economic upheaval; this played a major role in shaping modern Irish sport and in ensuring that sport in Ireland held characteristics shared by no other country”.
At the end of the First World War, the game of soccer was “pulling itself asunder” as there was a “mutual suspicion between Belfast and Dublin”. Personal and political conflict resulted in the establishment of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) in opposition to the Irish Football Association (IFA). While they initially fought for control of the game on the island, the conflict soon spread to international competitions where both fielded teams known as “Ireland”. The absurdity of it all is captured by the way Manchester United captain, Johnny Carey “played for the IFA Ireland team against England at Windsor Park on 28 February 1946 and did the same for the FAI team at Dalymount Park two days later”. Eventually, against a background of the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign and a declaration of an Irish Republic, the division of responsibilities between the IFA and the FAI was sorted.
The evolution of soccer is only one example of both the distinguishing and common features in the evolution of sport on both sides of the Irish Sea. Urbanisation, privatisation of the commons, industrialisation, and the growth of an association culture, all played a role in the evolution of sport. The fact that these things did not occur evenly across the British Isles meant that sport developed at different rate, and in different ways, in different regions. For example, the scale of industrialisation in England, and associated deforestation, meant that deer hunting prospered in the Celtic fringe. Similarly, the uneven scale of urbanisation on the island of Ireland meant soccer prospered in cities of Belfast and Dublin but less so in the wider countryside. But the distinguishing feature of the book is that this evolution was further shaped by politics. Rouse deals with the development of sport in a geographical area that had its own parliament in the eighteenth century, was subject to the Act of Union in 1801, and was partitioned in the early twentieth century.
Sport & Ireland is also worth reading for the way it unfolds the development of modern sport. This is particularly so for the period before the codification of modern sport in the late nineteenth century. The chronological structure of the book makes it easy to see the links between everyday existence and sport. It is easy to see the links between hunting-for-food and hunting-for-sport. It is easy to see how pastimes became sports. And, it is easy to see how the popularity of these sports grew and waned. It is no surprise to find the pastimes of an agricultural society involving cock-fighting and bull-baiting. Nor is it a surprise to find team sports growing in popularity with the growth of an association culture facilitated by greater urbanisation. But here, as elsewhere in the book, the author will stop the reader to remind them of a salient point. For example, Rouse make a point of stating what should be obvious when we consider sporting gatherings from earlier centuries. These gatherings were organised. Some body, or bodies, had to organise these events. This is an important point to make because it is too easy to fall into a belief that sport only became organised with the major codification that occurred in the nineteenth century.
During the nineteenth century, cock-fighting, bull-baiting and bear-baiting died out as they came under pressure from a small influential minority promoting animal welfare. However, not all sports involving fighting or animal exertions were banned. The Irish with their history of faction fighting must have appreciated the growth in the popularity of boxing. And, according to Rouse, horse racing became the Irish national sport.
For all the wonderful material and detail on sport pre-1850, the best of the book covers the following 100 years. The evolution of soccer in Ireland is but one outstanding example. Another is the development of modern gaelic games. The messy and uncertain development of gaelic games is consistent with the history of other sports. There are apocryphal stories in most sports: William Webb Ellis in rugby; Abner Doubleday in baseball. If baseball has Coopertown then the GAA has Thurles. There is slightly less gilding of the lily about the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It is accepted that it took place in Thurles in 1884. There is less awareness that the name of the organisation conveys what actually drove its establishment. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was initially established because of the dissatisfaction of its founders with the “British” version of the Athletic Association. Subsequently, driven by the forces of nationalism, relatively more emphasis was placed on the “gaelic” and relatively less on the “athletic”. Some believed that it was the GAA’s mission to follow the political revolution with a cultural one. “Ultimately, though, they believed too much. Their belief drew them to write and say things that were untrue.” The previous two sentences, quoted from pages 274-5 of Sport & Ireland, illustrate the value of the book. The history of Irish sport, like the history of most things, is a little more complicated than the myths would have us believe.
Money and Football – A Soccernomics Guide
Reviewed By David Butler
Given the popularity of Soccernomics or Why England Lose I wasn’t surprised when I saw that Money and Football was due to hit the shelves. In ten chapters the reader is given a great insight into how finance and football interact, and how each side is ultimately dependent on the other. It’s probably the closest thing you’re going to get to a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the football industry.
In the first chapter Prof.Symanski outlines how dominance and distress have always had a presence in the world of football. While the money in the sport has undoubtedly increased, dominance and distress are not new. After this initial message, every other chapter concentrates on one key aspect of football such as players, revenues and ownership. Each topic is nicely balanced, blending economic theory, the history of football and modern day anecdotes from the game. Prof. Symanski also brings plenty of evidence to support his ideas – data which has been compiled over a long time and something which a quick Google search can’t provide. For this reason alone the book is worth reading. For instance, the author shows two fundamental statistical relationships in football. Firstly, the more you spend on players the higher your position will be and secondly, the more successful you are on the pitch the more revenue you will generate.
The book is interspersed with approximately fifty blog style shorts where the reader is given an insight to events such as the Leeds and Rangers crises and Wimbledon’s relocation. While there is about five of these shorts per chapter, they are unassuming and don’t really interfere with the flow of the text. English Soccer is the dominant theme of the book but other football leagues and sports are mentioned, often for comparative purposes. Also, Chapter nine is dedicated to ‘America’.
For me the book reaffirmed the bizarre economics of the industry. Football is thriving, but as the book explains, the industry fails to produce notable profits and often lacks competitiveness. The author is keen to pose the question whether or not these are businesses after all, referring to the Rangers crisis. While the entire text is about the industry, at times we are drawn back from the brink – the emotions of fans, the role of clubs as status symbols for owners and the continuity of clubs despite their failure remind the reader that there is more to the sport than pure financial rules. Perhaps non-rational or non-footballing motives can fill in the gaps to further explain the peculiar economics of football?
I’d recommend the book for anyone who wants to think smartly about football. All the technical parts are clearly explained and it seems to be written to a general audience of sport enthusiasts (with a keen eye that economists will be reading). At the outset we are told that the objective of the book is to explain how competition in football works, both on and off the field. If your interested in the answer to this question Money and Football is for you.
Given the popularity of Soccernomics or Why England Lose I wasn’t surprised when I saw that Money and Football was due to hit the shelves. In ten chapters the reader is given a great insight into how finance and football interact, and how each side is ultimately dependent on the other. It’s probably the closest thing you’re going to get to a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the football industry.
In the first chapter Prof.Symanski outlines how dominance and distress have always had a presence in the world of football. While the money in the sport has undoubtedly increased, dominance and distress are not new. After this initial message, every other chapter concentrates on one key aspect of football such as players, revenues and ownership. Each topic is nicely balanced, blending economic theory, the history of football and modern day anecdotes from the game. Prof. Symanski also brings plenty of evidence to support his ideas – data which has been compiled over a long time and something which a quick Google search can’t provide. For this reason alone the book is worth reading. For instance, the author shows two fundamental statistical relationships in football. Firstly, the more you spend on players the higher your position will be and secondly, the more successful you are on the pitch the more revenue you will generate.
The book is interspersed with approximately fifty blog style shorts where the reader is given an insight to events such as the Leeds and Rangers crises and Wimbledon’s relocation. While there is about five of these shorts per chapter, they are unassuming and don’t really interfere with the flow of the text. English Soccer is the dominant theme of the book but other football leagues and sports are mentioned, often for comparative purposes. Also, Chapter nine is dedicated to ‘America’.
For me the book reaffirmed the bizarre economics of the industry. Football is thriving, but as the book explains, the industry fails to produce notable profits and often lacks competitiveness. The author is keen to pose the question whether or not these are businesses after all, referring to the Rangers crisis. While the entire text is about the industry, at times we are drawn back from the brink – the emotions of fans, the role of clubs as status symbols for owners and the continuity of clubs despite their failure remind the reader that there is more to the sport than pure financial rules. Perhaps non-rational or non-footballing motives can fill in the gaps to further explain the peculiar economics of football?
I’d recommend the book for anyone who wants to think smartly about football. All the technical parts are clearly explained and it seems to be written to a general audience of sport enthusiasts (with a keen eye that economists will be reading). At the outset we are told that the objective of the book is to explain how competition in football works, both on and off the field. If your interested in the answer to this question Money and Football is for you.
Circus Maximus
Reviewed by John Considine
Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup brings together again two of the biggest contributors to the literature on the economics of sport. The author, Andrew Zimbalist, and the publisher, Brooking Institute Press, have previously collaborated on Sport, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums (1997); May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy (2003); and National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer (2005). On the surface the book represents a natural progression. National Pastime represented a move away from sports books with a predominately US focus - no doubt aided by the collaboration between Zimbalist and Szymanski. Circus Maximus could be have been titled Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of International Mega-Events. However, there is a much more personal journey motivating the book as the author explains in the Preface.
The best parts of the book are mixture of economic history and case studies. The second chapter (Setting the Stage) is a concise history of the political economy of both the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. It is probably the best chapter but it is also the most depressing. Like any historical review of the twentieth century, it does not paint humanity in the best possible light. Obviously, the sporting organisations misdemeanours were on a far smaller scale than their political counterparts but the links between sport and politics at crucial stages means that sport does not come out smelling of roses. In addition, the growing commercialisation of sport brought its own unsavoury aspects. When Lord Killanin stepped down as President of the International Olympic Committee it was not exactly a signal that the movement had moved from autocracy to democracy. It may have signalled a move from amateurism to professionalism for the athletes but the elite remained. The commercialisation of sport and the amateur/professional nexus s is a topic that Zimbalist knows inside out as anyone who read his Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports can testify. The chapter is broadly a chronological account of the two sporting competitions in a manner similar to the approach in National Pastime.
Zimbalist does his best to shake the idea that major sporting events are a curse for the host. The closest he gets to achieving this is when he discusses the case of Barcelona 1992 and Los Angeles in 1994. However, the reader is left with the impression that the set of circumstances are so rare that there is only a slim chance that they will be repeated. Barcelona is discussed in a chapter with Sochi. Barcelona was successful because the Olympics fitted into a larger plan for urban renewal. The investment in sport infrastructure was a small part of a bigger public investment programme. Sochi is presented as the polar opposite.
The chapter on Barcelona and Sochi is followed by a chapter on Rio-Brazil and London. Although Zimbalist does have some good things to say about London 2012, he also provides a pretty strong critique of the lavish claims made others about the games. The consultants Grant Thornton do not come out of this book with their credibility enhanced. This is not because Zimbalist seeks to play the man rather than the ball. In fact, the opposite is true. He is clearly restraining himself in his comments on the various consultants employed by all those in favour of hosting mega-events. This is best illustrated in the first paragraph of the third chapter. Zimbalist just lists the claims made by a range of consultants and then moves on.
The chapters on the short-run and long-run economic impact of mega-events should be read by policy makers and their support staff. But this is unlikely to be the case if history is any guide to the future. These chapters have a textbook feel to them despite the best efforts of Zimbalist to pack them with illustrative examples. They may not be widely read but they could/should be read by those with some responsibility for the public purse.
Zimbalist believes, or at least hopes, that the Sochi and Qatar may represent the high watermark for lavish expenditure on the Olympics and World Cup. As evidence he lists the decline in bidders for the Olympics during the twenty-first century. He might also hope that this relatively short book will provide some further impetus. When it comes to getting a hearing, he stands a better chance than most.
The best parts of the book are mixture of economic history and case studies. The second chapter (Setting the Stage) is a concise history of the political economy of both the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. It is probably the best chapter but it is also the most depressing. Like any historical review of the twentieth century, it does not paint humanity in the best possible light. Obviously, the sporting organisations misdemeanours were on a far smaller scale than their political counterparts but the links between sport and politics at crucial stages means that sport does not come out smelling of roses. In addition, the growing commercialisation of sport brought its own unsavoury aspects. When Lord Killanin stepped down as President of the International Olympic Committee it was not exactly a signal that the movement had moved from autocracy to democracy. It may have signalled a move from amateurism to professionalism for the athletes but the elite remained. The commercialisation of sport and the amateur/professional nexus s is a topic that Zimbalist knows inside out as anyone who read his Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports can testify. The chapter is broadly a chronological account of the two sporting competitions in a manner similar to the approach in National Pastime.
Zimbalist does his best to shake the idea that major sporting events are a curse for the host. The closest he gets to achieving this is when he discusses the case of Barcelona 1992 and Los Angeles in 1994. However, the reader is left with the impression that the set of circumstances are so rare that there is only a slim chance that they will be repeated. Barcelona is discussed in a chapter with Sochi. Barcelona was successful because the Olympics fitted into a larger plan for urban renewal. The investment in sport infrastructure was a small part of a bigger public investment programme. Sochi is presented as the polar opposite.
The chapter on Barcelona and Sochi is followed by a chapter on Rio-Brazil and London. Although Zimbalist does have some good things to say about London 2012, he also provides a pretty strong critique of the lavish claims made others about the games. The consultants Grant Thornton do not come out of this book with their credibility enhanced. This is not because Zimbalist seeks to play the man rather than the ball. In fact, the opposite is true. He is clearly restraining himself in his comments on the various consultants employed by all those in favour of hosting mega-events. This is best illustrated in the first paragraph of the third chapter. Zimbalist just lists the claims made by a range of consultants and then moves on.
The chapters on the short-run and long-run economic impact of mega-events should be read by policy makers and their support staff. But this is unlikely to be the case if history is any guide to the future. These chapters have a textbook feel to them despite the best efforts of Zimbalist to pack them with illustrative examples. They may not be widely read but they could/should be read by those with some responsibility for the public purse.
Zimbalist believes, or at least hopes, that the Sochi and Qatar may represent the high watermark for lavish expenditure on the Olympics and World Cup. As evidence he lists the decline in bidders for the Olympics during the twenty-first century. He might also hope that this relatively short book will provide some further impetus. When it comes to getting a hearing, he stands a better chance than most.
Playbooks and Checkbooks
Reviewed by John Considine
Playbooks and Checkbooks is
an economics book without a single graph or table of data. There are twenty pages in the Preface. Then there are 183 pages of text organised into
six chapter. Yet, there is not a picture
of a demand curve in sight. For an
economics book about sport, the unsuspecting reader will surely be surprised by
the fact that there is no presentation of data in table or diagram form. It is worth reflecting on this feature of Stefan
Szymanski’s book.
Playbooks and Checkbooks naturally follows on from Szymanski’s National Pastime (also reviewed on this blog). In the first chapter of the book, Szymanski explains how modern sport and the growth in the business of sport have their roots in the United Kingdom and the United States. Specifically he highlights the importance of the freedom of association that facilitated the emergence and growth of the club. The historical approach to the first chapter is similar to the approach taken in National Pastime. Playbooks and Checkbooks uses this base to develop one of the best introductory books to the economics of sport.
While Syzmanski does not require the reader to have the graphical, mathematical, or statistical language of economics, he does make one important demand of the reader. The size of each chapter requires the reader to set aside some time and headspace to fully appreciate the contents. Szymanski has done much of the heavy lifting by distilling the material into exceptionally accessible text but he does require the reader to engage their mental faculties.
The six chapter titles are fairly self-explanatory: Sport and Business; Organizing Competitions; Sports and Antitrust; Sporting Incentives; Sports and Broadcasting; Sports and the Public Purse. Chapter 4 on Sporting Incentives raises many interesting questions about economics and its perspective on sport. There is a particularly interesting discussion on the topic of human motivation. It is always worth considering the words used to describe human action arising from a given motivational drive as it can reveal the author’s perspective.
The author’s perspective can also be reveal by their presentation of the material. Szymanski begins Chapter 6 with a discussion of the competition for the Olympic Games (rather than the competition in the Olympic Games). His sceptical perspective on behaviour of the public representatives involved is not surprising given his expressed appreciation of the work of Gordon Tullock. He describes how the IOC members attract gifts from cities bidding for the games. His analogy between major sporting events and hosting a large party is well explained.
The importance of power and property rights are central to the second and third chapters. In Chapter 2, Szymanski traces out the implications of the relative power of individual competitors versus teams in their respective sports. The relative power of the players compared to the owners in US sport is explored in Chapter 3. By comparing, individual sports to team sports, US sports to European sports, and market-based sport to government-funded sport, Szymanski produces a sports economics book that allows the read to ponder the issues raise long after the reading.
There is one further feature of Checkbooks and Playbooks that is worth noting. Syzmanski literally surrounds his work with reference to others and their work. He ends the Preface with a short note on some of the economists who’s ideas he uses. He ends the book by providing the reader with a short introduction to the literature on sports economics.
I remember ordering the book and waiting for notification that it had arrived in the bookshop. I remember reading it. It was a most enjoyable experience. It is a sports economics book that those reading themselves into the area should read. It is both enjoyable and informative.
Playbooks and Checkbooks naturally follows on from Szymanski’s National Pastime (also reviewed on this blog). In the first chapter of the book, Szymanski explains how modern sport and the growth in the business of sport have their roots in the United Kingdom and the United States. Specifically he highlights the importance of the freedom of association that facilitated the emergence and growth of the club. The historical approach to the first chapter is similar to the approach taken in National Pastime. Playbooks and Checkbooks uses this base to develop one of the best introductory books to the economics of sport.
While Syzmanski does not require the reader to have the graphical, mathematical, or statistical language of economics, he does make one important demand of the reader. The size of each chapter requires the reader to set aside some time and headspace to fully appreciate the contents. Szymanski has done much of the heavy lifting by distilling the material into exceptionally accessible text but he does require the reader to engage their mental faculties.
The six chapter titles are fairly self-explanatory: Sport and Business; Organizing Competitions; Sports and Antitrust; Sporting Incentives; Sports and Broadcasting; Sports and the Public Purse. Chapter 4 on Sporting Incentives raises many interesting questions about economics and its perspective on sport. There is a particularly interesting discussion on the topic of human motivation. It is always worth considering the words used to describe human action arising from a given motivational drive as it can reveal the author’s perspective.
The author’s perspective can also be reveal by their presentation of the material. Szymanski begins Chapter 6 with a discussion of the competition for the Olympic Games (rather than the competition in the Olympic Games). His sceptical perspective on behaviour of the public representatives involved is not surprising given his expressed appreciation of the work of Gordon Tullock. He describes how the IOC members attract gifts from cities bidding for the games. His analogy between major sporting events and hosting a large party is well explained.
The importance of power and property rights are central to the second and third chapters. In Chapter 2, Szymanski traces out the implications of the relative power of individual competitors versus teams in their respective sports. The relative power of the players compared to the owners in US sport is explored in Chapter 3. By comparing, individual sports to team sports, US sports to European sports, and market-based sport to government-funded sport, Szymanski produces a sports economics book that allows the read to ponder the issues raise long after the reading.
There is one further feature of Checkbooks and Playbooks that is worth noting. Syzmanski literally surrounds his work with reference to others and their work. He ends the Preface with a short note on some of the economists who’s ideas he uses. He ends the book by providing the reader with a short introduction to the literature on sports economics.
I remember ordering the book and waiting for notification that it had arrived in the bookshop. I remember reading it. It was a most enjoyable experience. It is a sports economics book that those reading themselves into the area should read. It is both enjoyable and informative.
Beautiful Game Theory
Reviewed by John Considine
Before the arrival of our first child, numerous people told us about the different ways our lives would change. We had no reason to disbelieve what these people told us. However, it was only after the event did we fully understand the ways our lives would change – from the joys of parenthood to the military organisation needed for the simplest of journeys. It is like that with Beautiful Game Theory. The title of the book, the supplementary material on the cover, and the introduction, provides the reader with everything they want to know about the book. But it is only after reading the book do you fully appreciate what the author was saying.
I would love to know the thinking behind the title. It combines two of the passions of the author, namely, the beautiful game and game theory. The words are clear but they carry a different emphasis after reading the book. Before reading the book I would have placed much greater emphasis on the soccer. It is only after reading the book that I can imagine the author saying the words with the emphasis on the beauty of game theory. Of course, I did not fully appreciate the subtitle of the book – How soccer can help economics. I had read the tributes from Gary Becker, Stefan Szymanski and James Reade and later realised how well they describe the book.
Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, the head of talent identification at Athletic Club de Bilbao, does his best to inform the reader what exactly the book is, and is not, about in the introduction. He says “This book is an economics book, and soccer is the common thread of all the chapters. ... This is not a book about what economics can do for soccer. The idea is precisely the opposite: it is about what soccer can do for economics.” He says “The questions studied in this book are not just “cute” questions of interest to people who like sports. ... Instead, the objective is to make progress in the world of economics through sports, specifically through soccer.”
It is not surprising that the author is unsure “what the right audience is for this book”. He seems to wish that there is some material in the book for a wide range of readers. There is. However, it is probably also true that only a subset of readers will read all of the book in detail. The technical presentation of some of the material will not be to the liking of the general reader. They may appreciate the research rigour that Palacios-Huerta brings to his work but they may not appreciate the presentation style.
Beautiful Game Theory will be savoured and appreciated by those with an interest in sports economics research. What I found particularly interesting was the mix of economic theory and research methods used by the author. The book begins with game theory and penalty kicks. It then slides easily into experimental economics. And then the reader encounter neuroeconomics. In chapter 6 the reader is introduced to testing the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) with sports betting data. Testing the EMH with sports betting data is fairly standard. The most interesting part of the chapter is the way the half-time break is incorporated into the analysis. The application of hypothesis testing to other soccer examples populate the remainder of the book. The bias towards home teams, discrimination, violence, and changes in reward structures are all examined. What makes the book so interesting is the way Palacios-Huerta examines many of these questions.
An insight into the depths of the research in the book is illustrated in chapter 8 – Making the Beautiful Game A Little Less Beautiful. The chapter is co-authored by Luis Garicano and it examines the implications of the move to three points for a win. The chapter explains the context of the decision and then moves on to examine the change from a number of angles. Behavioural changes are measured using a range of indicators such as shot attempts and yellow/red cards. The authors look for changes in both attacking and defensive strategies. Comparisons are made with cup competitions where the rewards structure had not changed. Not only is the analysis conducted using the final outcome of the games but the authors also examine the implications for the dynamics of game, e.g. substitution strategies.
Beautiful Game Theory shows what it is like to think deeply about a sport and to test your ideas with data. However, thinking deeply about a sport can change the way you see the sport. To quote the author, “this is a risk you are taking with this book and that the effects on the role soccer and other sports play in your life after reading it may not be positive”. True, but my experience was a positive one. Maybe it is because economics has already changed the way I see things. Therefore, it is a book I recommend unconditionally to those economists with even a passing sport.
I would love to know the thinking behind the title. It combines two of the passions of the author, namely, the beautiful game and game theory. The words are clear but they carry a different emphasis after reading the book. Before reading the book I would have placed much greater emphasis on the soccer. It is only after reading the book that I can imagine the author saying the words with the emphasis on the beauty of game theory. Of course, I did not fully appreciate the subtitle of the book – How soccer can help economics. I had read the tributes from Gary Becker, Stefan Szymanski and James Reade and later realised how well they describe the book.
Ignacio Palacios-Huerta, the head of talent identification at Athletic Club de Bilbao, does his best to inform the reader what exactly the book is, and is not, about in the introduction. He says “This book is an economics book, and soccer is the common thread of all the chapters. ... This is not a book about what economics can do for soccer. The idea is precisely the opposite: it is about what soccer can do for economics.” He says “The questions studied in this book are not just “cute” questions of interest to people who like sports. ... Instead, the objective is to make progress in the world of economics through sports, specifically through soccer.”
It is not surprising that the author is unsure “what the right audience is for this book”. He seems to wish that there is some material in the book for a wide range of readers. There is. However, it is probably also true that only a subset of readers will read all of the book in detail. The technical presentation of some of the material will not be to the liking of the general reader. They may appreciate the research rigour that Palacios-Huerta brings to his work but they may not appreciate the presentation style.
Beautiful Game Theory will be savoured and appreciated by those with an interest in sports economics research. What I found particularly interesting was the mix of economic theory and research methods used by the author. The book begins with game theory and penalty kicks. It then slides easily into experimental economics. And then the reader encounter neuroeconomics. In chapter 6 the reader is introduced to testing the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) with sports betting data. Testing the EMH with sports betting data is fairly standard. The most interesting part of the chapter is the way the half-time break is incorporated into the analysis. The application of hypothesis testing to other soccer examples populate the remainder of the book. The bias towards home teams, discrimination, violence, and changes in reward structures are all examined. What makes the book so interesting is the way Palacios-Huerta examines many of these questions.
An insight into the depths of the research in the book is illustrated in chapter 8 – Making the Beautiful Game A Little Less Beautiful. The chapter is co-authored by Luis Garicano and it examines the implications of the move to three points for a win. The chapter explains the context of the decision and then moves on to examine the change from a number of angles. Behavioural changes are measured using a range of indicators such as shot attempts and yellow/red cards. The authors look for changes in both attacking and defensive strategies. Comparisons are made with cup competitions where the rewards structure had not changed. Not only is the analysis conducted using the final outcome of the games but the authors also examine the implications for the dynamics of game, e.g. substitution strategies.
Beautiful Game Theory shows what it is like to think deeply about a sport and to test your ideas with data. However, thinking deeply about a sport can change the way you see the sport. To quote the author, “this is a risk you are taking with this book and that the effects on the role soccer and other sports play in your life after reading it may not be positive”. True, but my experience was a positive one. Maybe it is because economics has already changed the way I see things. Therefore, it is a book I recommend unconditionally to those economists with even a passing sport.
15 Sports Myths and Why They're Wrong
Reviewed by David Butler
Published just last year ‘15 Sports Myths’ by Rodney Fort and Jason Winfrey is an enjoyable read that challenges many conventional opinions that are rife in the world of sport. It is a brave effort to mobilise economic principles and a wealth of data in an attempt to alter the mind-set of the general sports fan.
As suggested by the title, the book jolts us into new ways of looking at familiar claims by showcasing the power of economic logic and empirical data over that of gut reactions and hasty generalisations. From my own experience, relying on intuition was my default position as a sports fan - something I have tried to train myself out of (with, of course, the occasional emotional relapse when Tottenham concede!). From casual observation, my hunch would be that most sport fans have a similar starting position. Thus, when the general reader picks up this book they will see how many common views in sport are contestable when all the evidence comes to light. The consequences of thinking critically about sporting opinion however, in my view, is all positive. By having your intuition upset by Fort and Winfrey’s thorough economic analysis you will be far more informed about how fallacious thinking can pervade our understanding of sport.
The book itself considers 15 myths for dominant American sports and is split into two sections, ‘College Myths‘and ‘Pro Myths’. The first of these sections contains 7 College myths while the latter probes 8 Professional Sports opinions. The chapters are essentially stand-alone, bringing an enjoyable flexibility to the text that allows the reader dip in and out of different chapters as they so please.
Given my own primary interest in soccer (and nascent knowledge of American Football and Baseball) the myths I enjoyed reading most were the ones thats logic could be applicable across a range of sports. I’ve selected three enjoyable ones to introduce here.
In chapter 8 the authors consider the myth that 'Owners and General Managers are Inept' and identify the disconnect between sportswriters and economists when it comes to the modus operandi of owners. In this myth the authors explain the tendency of analysts to often assume a linear relationship between winning ties and spending money, an association rightly dubbed by as ‘bad economics’, as the costs of winning additional ties are not constant. The chapter goes on to offer a warning to the usual framing of Billy Beanes’ Oakland A’s success and suggests that owners of teams like the New York Yankee’s can actively choose to overpay relative to teams like the A’s as their business model is reliant upon ‘superstar’ attractions and not only results. The authors conclude with a practical and timely reminder to the reader of the role of luck, uncertainty and human nature in the sports business that can often prevent owners from making perfect decisions that fans so desire. All in all, the chapter does a great job in describing the hidden sides of sport relating to business, that often manifest themselves as nasty to media reactions to incompetent owners.
In chapter 10 the authors tackle the myth that Player Salary Demands Increase Ticket Prices. This was my favourite chapter that overturns the traditional tale that greedy player’s wage costs are being passed onto fans going through the turnstiles. Using essentail microeconomic principles the authors argue that increasing demand for sports over time has driven high player salaries rather than player power or the commanding heights passing on costs, and that this, in turn, has increased the price of entry. The authors give a great lesson regarding causality in the sports industry and made me think that we should look in the mirror if we want to understand why top performers earn so much! The kernel of the argument is that it is not high salaries causing ticket price increases but rather fans demand for tickets (and the subsequent increase in price due to greater demand) that is causing a rise in salaries. Importantly, the authors adjust for inflation when considering ticket prices and conclude with something that I actually expected; there is good economic reasons that prices should be higher for leagues with sell-out audiences. A reference to some of the psychological work in the area of price fairness could have been worthy here to explain why prices do not rise any further but that said, the authors make their point in overturning the myth. The chapter ends with reference to literature from the Public Choice School of Economics and provides some neat comparisons to the movie business that should help us not to resent high paid sports stars.
The final myth addressed in Chapter 15 focuses on the argument that Major League Baseball should emulate the National Football League and considers the issue of long run sports popularity. Again this chapter had me thinking of sports closer to home, especially the ebb and flow of popularity in sports such as snooker and darts in Ireland and the UK. Using Gallup Poll data the authors outline that before 1968 baseball in the U.S was more popular than football and that this trend reversed after that year, with a greater gap emerging between the popularity of both since. There is an excellent eye for detail in this chapter as the authors reach into history to consider attendance statistics across sports. Those with a preference for historical data or longer run analysis will get great enjoyment from this chapter.
I’d recommend this book for those who want to understand how economics can challenge how you view sport or for those that want to an alternative entry point to the world of sport. Fort and Winfrey’s book is a good read and in several ways the text could be used as a companion for an introductory course in economics, as it has so many of the ingredients required for Econ101. The book is teeming with the cold but sharp analysis that often makes the discipline of economics what it is – something which leads us to a conclusion that goes directly against our intuition. The book is well presented, is data rich (going back to the early 20th century at times) and has plenty of informative yet easily comprehendible tables and charts. The English is intelligible and while having a knowledge of economic principles would be a benefit when reading the book, is not essential (the text is not overloaded with academic jargon). The authors deserve credit for a timely piece of work that no doubt will be enjoyed by critical thinkers, sport fans and a combination of the two - a similar endeavour is really needed for soccer!'
Published just last year ‘15 Sports Myths’ by Rodney Fort and Jason Winfrey is an enjoyable read that challenges many conventional opinions that are rife in the world of sport. It is a brave effort to mobilise economic principles and a wealth of data in an attempt to alter the mind-set of the general sports fan.
As suggested by the title, the book jolts us into new ways of looking at familiar claims by showcasing the power of economic logic and empirical data over that of gut reactions and hasty generalisations. From my own experience, relying on intuition was my default position as a sports fan - something I have tried to train myself out of (with, of course, the occasional emotional relapse when Tottenham concede!). From casual observation, my hunch would be that most sport fans have a similar starting position. Thus, when the general reader picks up this book they will see how many common views in sport are contestable when all the evidence comes to light. The consequences of thinking critically about sporting opinion however, in my view, is all positive. By having your intuition upset by Fort and Winfrey’s thorough economic analysis you will be far more informed about how fallacious thinking can pervade our understanding of sport.
The book itself considers 15 myths for dominant American sports and is split into two sections, ‘College Myths‘and ‘Pro Myths’. The first of these sections contains 7 College myths while the latter probes 8 Professional Sports opinions. The chapters are essentially stand-alone, bringing an enjoyable flexibility to the text that allows the reader dip in and out of different chapters as they so please.
Given my own primary interest in soccer (and nascent knowledge of American Football and Baseball) the myths I enjoyed reading most were the ones thats logic could be applicable across a range of sports. I’ve selected three enjoyable ones to introduce here.
In chapter 8 the authors consider the myth that 'Owners and General Managers are Inept' and identify the disconnect between sportswriters and economists when it comes to the modus operandi of owners. In this myth the authors explain the tendency of analysts to often assume a linear relationship between winning ties and spending money, an association rightly dubbed by as ‘bad economics’, as the costs of winning additional ties are not constant. The chapter goes on to offer a warning to the usual framing of Billy Beanes’ Oakland A’s success and suggests that owners of teams like the New York Yankee’s can actively choose to overpay relative to teams like the A’s as their business model is reliant upon ‘superstar’ attractions and not only results. The authors conclude with a practical and timely reminder to the reader of the role of luck, uncertainty and human nature in the sports business that can often prevent owners from making perfect decisions that fans so desire. All in all, the chapter does a great job in describing the hidden sides of sport relating to business, that often manifest themselves as nasty to media reactions to incompetent owners.
In chapter 10 the authors tackle the myth that Player Salary Demands Increase Ticket Prices. This was my favourite chapter that overturns the traditional tale that greedy player’s wage costs are being passed onto fans going through the turnstiles. Using essentail microeconomic principles the authors argue that increasing demand for sports over time has driven high player salaries rather than player power or the commanding heights passing on costs, and that this, in turn, has increased the price of entry. The authors give a great lesson regarding causality in the sports industry and made me think that we should look in the mirror if we want to understand why top performers earn so much! The kernel of the argument is that it is not high salaries causing ticket price increases but rather fans demand for tickets (and the subsequent increase in price due to greater demand) that is causing a rise in salaries. Importantly, the authors adjust for inflation when considering ticket prices and conclude with something that I actually expected; there is good economic reasons that prices should be higher for leagues with sell-out audiences. A reference to some of the psychological work in the area of price fairness could have been worthy here to explain why prices do not rise any further but that said, the authors make their point in overturning the myth. The chapter ends with reference to literature from the Public Choice School of Economics and provides some neat comparisons to the movie business that should help us not to resent high paid sports stars.
The final myth addressed in Chapter 15 focuses on the argument that Major League Baseball should emulate the National Football League and considers the issue of long run sports popularity. Again this chapter had me thinking of sports closer to home, especially the ebb and flow of popularity in sports such as snooker and darts in Ireland and the UK. Using Gallup Poll data the authors outline that before 1968 baseball in the U.S was more popular than football and that this trend reversed after that year, with a greater gap emerging between the popularity of both since. There is an excellent eye for detail in this chapter as the authors reach into history to consider attendance statistics across sports. Those with a preference for historical data or longer run analysis will get great enjoyment from this chapter.
I’d recommend this book for those who want to understand how economics can challenge how you view sport or for those that want to an alternative entry point to the world of sport. Fort and Winfrey’s book is a good read and in several ways the text could be used as a companion for an introductory course in economics, as it has so many of the ingredients required for Econ101. The book is teeming with the cold but sharp analysis that often makes the discipline of economics what it is – something which leads us to a conclusion that goes directly against our intuition. The book is well presented, is data rich (going back to the early 20th century at times) and has plenty of informative yet easily comprehendible tables and charts. The English is intelligible and while having a knowledge of economic principles would be a benefit when reading the book, is not essential (the text is not overloaded with academic jargon). The authors deserve credit for a timely piece of work that no doubt will be enjoyed by critical thinkers, sport fans and a combination of the two - a similar endeavour is really needed for soccer!'
Richer than God: Manchester City, Modern Football and Growing Up
Reviewed by John Considine
This superb book is classified as non-fiction/sport. There is a case to be made for it being classified as autobiography. The sub-title of the book indicates as much – “Manchester City, Modern Football and Growing Up”. In the course of the 400 pages we find David Conn working his way through life and its “strangest of contradictions”. Conn uses the term “strangest of contradictions” when evaluating the ownership of Manchester City by Sheikh Mansour. He says “They seem to be the first owners in my lifetime who really understood what they had, how precious it was to own a football club, and what responsibilities came with it”. To understand why Conn finds this a contradiction you need to follow his biography and history.
His earliest of years were lived out during one period of Manchester City success. This book was written after another City success in the dramatic title race of 2012. In the intervening period, it was one disappointment after another. It was one false dawn after another. Or to be more precise, and true to the City anthem, it was one Blue Moon after another. During these sporting disappointments, Conn falls out of love with football. His growing disenchantment was not just because of the lack of sporting success. Rather it was his feeling that modern football in general, and Manchester City in particular, moved further away from its original social purpose and its claim to be the people’s game. Then comes the redemption. Conn finds himself and City regaining some of the tradition values, via the ownership of an autocratic, oil-rich, Sheikh from Abu Dhabi. The strangest of contradictions.
The low point for Conn comes when he realises that “Fans grew up, for generations, thinking of the football companies to which they paid their money as their clubs”. This realisation comes in Chapter 10 – The Money Game. In that chapter Conn provides a concise economic history of the key stages in the
financial evolution of the modern game. The material on event since the 1980s is most informative as Conn contrasts the increased financial flows and improved facilities at the upper end of the game with the poverty and neglect at grassroots level. It is with primarily regret, but with a tinge of anger, he discusses the way the FA sanctioned the breakaway by the Premier League. In an air of resignation he says “We had forgotten that football was a sport with a social purpose and a collective benefit, not just ‘a business’ in which fans wide-eyed loyalty should not be considered a ‘captive market’, as some of the money men explicitly describe it, from which ‘owners’ of ‘clubs’ could make fat personal profits”. Nine chapters later, Conn reflects on how some of the skills from his legal education in Wolverhampton Polytechnic, his work as a journalist, and his constant wrestling with the issue, had “created a distance between the football club that so blessed my childhood, and my grown-up self”.
As Conn’s perspective on the professional game is changing so is his perspective on participation in sport. And, it is here we find another contradiction that Conn’s father describes as strange. On the way to a game, that Conn is playing as a kid, David explains to his father that he feels more excited when City score than when he scores himself. Yet, Conn says that for years he did not agree with the adage that it is better to play than to watch. It was only as his education about the professional game progressed that he changed. It was only in later life he came to the view that for him “It is more enjoyable to play than to watch”.
This represented an amazing journey for the person who can still feel the static on his lips from when, as a boy, he kissed the television image of the Manchester City icon Francis Lee. How ironic it was that it was during Lee’s return as a businessman, to takeover Manchester City, that David Conn discovered that football clubs were actually football companies.
As Conn discovered the physiological thrill of football (and other jogging) he also started to rediscover the psychological thrill of involvement. Here again we find another of the strangest of contradictions. The Manchester City fan, and his daughter Izzy, find comfort and belonging in the company of the FC United of Manchester fans with their democratic principles and colourful language. It says a lot about Conn that some of the warmest passages in the book are found in his description of his time with Izzy and the FC United fans. There is no contradiction here. Conn’s description of his time as a Manchester City fan when they are playing in the third tier of English football has similar sentiments. Warm sentiments and humourous events. The chapter is called 'The People's Game'. I'm not sure he will ever recapture these exact sentiments with City - even with the best efforts of Sheikh Mansour and Al Mubarak.
His earliest of years were lived out during one period of Manchester City success. This book was written after another City success in the dramatic title race of 2012. In the intervening period, it was one disappointment after another. It was one false dawn after another. Or to be more precise, and true to the City anthem, it was one Blue Moon after another. During these sporting disappointments, Conn falls out of love with football. His growing disenchantment was not just because of the lack of sporting success. Rather it was his feeling that modern football in general, and Manchester City in particular, moved further away from its original social purpose and its claim to be the people’s game. Then comes the redemption. Conn finds himself and City regaining some of the tradition values, via the ownership of an autocratic, oil-rich, Sheikh from Abu Dhabi. The strangest of contradictions.
The low point for Conn comes when he realises that “Fans grew up, for generations, thinking of the football companies to which they paid their money as their clubs”. This realisation comes in Chapter 10 – The Money Game. In that chapter Conn provides a concise economic history of the key stages in the
financial evolution of the modern game. The material on event since the 1980s is most informative as Conn contrasts the increased financial flows and improved facilities at the upper end of the game with the poverty and neglect at grassroots level. It is with primarily regret, but with a tinge of anger, he discusses the way the FA sanctioned the breakaway by the Premier League. In an air of resignation he says “We had forgotten that football was a sport with a social purpose and a collective benefit, not just ‘a business’ in which fans wide-eyed loyalty should not be considered a ‘captive market’, as some of the money men explicitly describe it, from which ‘owners’ of ‘clubs’ could make fat personal profits”. Nine chapters later, Conn reflects on how some of the skills from his legal education in Wolverhampton Polytechnic, his work as a journalist, and his constant wrestling with the issue, had “created a distance between the football club that so blessed my childhood, and my grown-up self”.
As Conn’s perspective on the professional game is changing so is his perspective on participation in sport. And, it is here we find another contradiction that Conn’s father describes as strange. On the way to a game, that Conn is playing as a kid, David explains to his father that he feels more excited when City score than when he scores himself. Yet, Conn says that for years he did not agree with the adage that it is better to play than to watch. It was only as his education about the professional game progressed that he changed. It was only in later life he came to the view that for him “It is more enjoyable to play than to watch”.
This represented an amazing journey for the person who can still feel the static on his lips from when, as a boy, he kissed the television image of the Manchester City icon Francis Lee. How ironic it was that it was during Lee’s return as a businessman, to takeover Manchester City, that David Conn discovered that football clubs were actually football companies.
As Conn discovered the physiological thrill of football (and other jogging) he also started to rediscover the psychological thrill of involvement. Here again we find another of the strangest of contradictions. The Manchester City fan, and his daughter Izzy, find comfort and belonging in the company of the FC United of Manchester fans with their democratic principles and colourful language. It says a lot about Conn that some of the warmest passages in the book are found in his description of his time with Izzy and the FC United fans. There is no contradiction here. Conn’s description of his time as a Manchester City fan when they are playing in the third tier of English football has similar sentiments. Warm sentiments and humourous events. The chapter is called 'The People's Game'. I'm not sure he will ever recapture these exact sentiments with City - even with the best efforts of Sheikh Mansour and Al Mubarak.
The Oxford Handbook of Sports Economics Volume 1
Reviewed by Robbie Butler
The Oxford Handbook of Sports Economics is a two-volume series edited by Leo H. Kahane (Providence College) and Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan) and brings together a wide variety of perspectives on the economics of sport. This first review will focus on Volume 1, which brings together contributions from key people in the field of sports economics such as Bill Gerrard, Rob Simmons and Brad Humphreys.
The volume in broken into six main sections as follows:
1. The Economics of League and Contest Design
2. Economics of Major League Sports
3. Economics of Other Sports
4. Economics of College Sports
5. Economics of Mega Events
6. Economics of Refereeing
Section 1 deals with key economic concepts such as competitive balance in sports leagues, open and closed sports systems (where relegation is or is not permitted), pay-offs for reaching end of season events and club objectives. A combination of sports are addressed in this opening section from American football, to baseball to Association football.
Section 2 has very much an American flavour to it. Baseball, basketball, ice-hockey and American football are all examined from the perspective of topics such as labour mobility, salary caps, taxation, game design and television revenue-sharing. Even the demand for violence at ice hockey games is examined! Association football is also touched upon in the section with a consideration of the impact of the Bosman ruling on labour mobility.
Section 3 offers two papers on “other sports” with golf and NASCAR racing both analysed from an economic perspective. Section 4 returns to the American theme with gender equality, cartel behaviour and attendances figures at College sports all examined. Section 5 offers additional insight into the growing body of work on the economics of major sporting events. The Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl each have a chapter devoted to them with the book delving into the economic benefits and costs of hosting such mega events. Volume 1 ends with a single paper in Section 6 (The Economics of Referring) with a paper examining career duration of German football referees.
The volume is an excellent reference source and a great place to start when analysing issues on various topics in sports economics.
The Oxford Handbook of Sports Economics is a two-volume series edited by Leo H. Kahane (Providence College) and Stefan Szymanski (University of Michigan) and brings together a wide variety of perspectives on the economics of sport. This first review will focus on Volume 1, which brings together contributions from key people in the field of sports economics such as Bill Gerrard, Rob Simmons and Brad Humphreys.
The volume in broken into six main sections as follows:
1. The Economics of League and Contest Design
2. Economics of Major League Sports
3. Economics of Other Sports
4. Economics of College Sports
5. Economics of Mega Events
6. Economics of Refereeing
Section 1 deals with key economic concepts such as competitive balance in sports leagues, open and closed sports systems (where relegation is or is not permitted), pay-offs for reaching end of season events and club objectives. A combination of sports are addressed in this opening section from American football, to baseball to Association football.
Section 2 has very much an American flavour to it. Baseball, basketball, ice-hockey and American football are all examined from the perspective of topics such as labour mobility, salary caps, taxation, game design and television revenue-sharing. Even the demand for violence at ice hockey games is examined! Association football is also touched upon in the section with a consideration of the impact of the Bosman ruling on labour mobility.
Section 3 offers two papers on “other sports” with golf and NASCAR racing both analysed from an economic perspective. Section 4 returns to the American theme with gender equality, cartel behaviour and attendances figures at College sports all examined. Section 5 offers additional insight into the growing body of work on the economics of major sporting events. The Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl each have a chapter devoted to them with the book delving into the economic benefits and costs of hosting such mega events. Volume 1 ends with a single paper in Section 6 (The Economics of Referring) with a paper examining career duration of German football referees.
The volume is an excellent reference source and a great place to start when analysing issues on various topics in sports economics.
National Pastime
Review by John Considine
National Pastime is an economic history of two sports – baseball and soccer. One is a stick and small ball game. The other is a large ball game. One is an American pastime. The other is an English pastime that has essentially become the international game. The way in which both developed illustrates the similarities and differences in the American and European economic models of sport.
Written by Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist, the book is essentially a chronological history of both games from an economic perspective. It starts in the late 19th century and, chapter by chapter, ends in the 21st century. This structure is possible because of the way the sports developed.
The codification of the rules and other organisational problems were the key issues in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The rise in popularity of the sports meant that the next challenge was to translate this popularity into revenue streams. The authors explain how the sports sought to get more people to view their games live and connect through broadcasting. As revenue streams improved, the next important issue on the table was the issue of professionalism. Professionalism introduced an element of conflict between owners and workers about the distribution of the gains. At times these conflicts ended up in the Courts. Most of these cases were not resolved in favour of the players.
While many of the issues encountered by baseball and soccer were similar there were important differences. The two most important distinctions identified by Szymanski & Zimbalist are the way the governing organisation of the games and the size of the markets in which they operated.
Szymanski & Zimbalist argue that the size of the relevant markets meant that Americans had to come to terms with a greater range of issues surrounding professionalism. The competition between rival leagues was greater in the United States and as a result there was greater fluctuation in wages. Thearrival of a rival league on the scene would lead to wage inflation as rival leagues bid for players. After one league had seen off its rival then owners would set about clawing back some of the gains.
For the first half of the 20th century, soccer tended to operate in a series of smaller, national markets. During the latter part of the 20th century a variety of forces resulted in soccer facing a range of issues similar to baseball. The growth of international club competitions, the greater movement of players, and closer political and economic integration in Europe changed the landscape for soccer. These changes brought about the Bosman ruling that changed the face of European soccer.
The size of the national markets also limited the potential for broadcast revenue from soccer in Europe. The demand for the product tended to be limited to the domestic, national markets. In addition, the soccer authorities found it difficult to extract revenue from broadcasters because these broadcasters tended to be monopoly state broadcasters. It was only in the 1980s did this change with technology improvements and the growth of Europe–wide competitions.
Probably the most important source of differences for Szymanski & Zimbalist is the way the sports are organised. They point out that the Americans were quicker to see sport as a business and they tended to separate the organisation of the professional and amateur games. The footballing authorities in the UK attempted to keep the professional and amateur games under one governance structure. The majority of the issues they authors discuss in the second half of the book stem from this difference.
The cartel-type structure of American baseball resulted in a more orderly development of the game when compared to the swings in financial fortunes experience by English soccer. The authors also imply that the more inclusive development soccer structures enabled the game develop more widely because those with the money in baseball were primarily concerned with protecting their domestic markets.
The authors do a good job of illustrating how both sports are subject to the ‘peculiar’ economics of sport. While individual teams wish to dominate their sport they realise that to do so might damage the overall attractiveness of their sport. On the surface it would seem that baseball is better equipped to deal
with the issue because of its governance. Baseball also has collective bargaining agreements, the threat of relocation, and reverse-order drafts that help owners. However, even in this setting there is competition between teams. Owners hide baseball profits through Related Party Transactions (RPT). This is done to avoid the revenue sharing elements of the league’s agreement. It has been achieved through selling tickets via a subsidiary, ownership of related media companies, payments of large salaries to the owners, financial leverage via interest payments to the owners.
Individual soccer clubs face greater uncertainty than their baseball counterparts. They do not have a credible relocation threat. EU state aid rules have also limited public subsidies. There is greater uncertainty about the distribution of broadcast revenues as larger clubs bargain for a greater share. Overall there appears to be an increased concentration of financial resources. Szymanski & Zimbalist point out that the revenue gap between top and bottom teams in the English Premier League increased from 2:1 to 8:1 between 1950 and 2000.
While individual soccer clubs face greater uncertainty than their baseball counterparts, their sport continues to grow. Soccer appears to be making greater in roads into the American market than baseball in making into the international market.
Anyone interested in coming at sports economics from a historical perspective would appreciate this book.
Written by Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist, the book is essentially a chronological history of both games from an economic perspective. It starts in the late 19th century and, chapter by chapter, ends in the 21st century. This structure is possible because of the way the sports developed.
The codification of the rules and other organisational problems were the key issues in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The rise in popularity of the sports meant that the next challenge was to translate this popularity into revenue streams. The authors explain how the sports sought to get more people to view their games live and connect through broadcasting. As revenue streams improved, the next important issue on the table was the issue of professionalism. Professionalism introduced an element of conflict between owners and workers about the distribution of the gains. At times these conflicts ended up in the Courts. Most of these cases were not resolved in favour of the players.
While many of the issues encountered by baseball and soccer were similar there were important differences. The two most important distinctions identified by Szymanski & Zimbalist are the way the governing organisation of the games and the size of the markets in which they operated.
Szymanski & Zimbalist argue that the size of the relevant markets meant that Americans had to come to terms with a greater range of issues surrounding professionalism. The competition between rival leagues was greater in the United States and as a result there was greater fluctuation in wages. Thearrival of a rival league on the scene would lead to wage inflation as rival leagues bid for players. After one league had seen off its rival then owners would set about clawing back some of the gains.
For the first half of the 20th century, soccer tended to operate in a series of smaller, national markets. During the latter part of the 20th century a variety of forces resulted in soccer facing a range of issues similar to baseball. The growth of international club competitions, the greater movement of players, and closer political and economic integration in Europe changed the landscape for soccer. These changes brought about the Bosman ruling that changed the face of European soccer.
The size of the national markets also limited the potential for broadcast revenue from soccer in Europe. The demand for the product tended to be limited to the domestic, national markets. In addition, the soccer authorities found it difficult to extract revenue from broadcasters because these broadcasters tended to be monopoly state broadcasters. It was only in the 1980s did this change with technology improvements and the growth of Europe–wide competitions.
Probably the most important source of differences for Szymanski & Zimbalist is the way the sports are organised. They point out that the Americans were quicker to see sport as a business and they tended to separate the organisation of the professional and amateur games. The footballing authorities in the UK attempted to keep the professional and amateur games under one governance structure. The majority of the issues they authors discuss in the second half of the book stem from this difference.
The cartel-type structure of American baseball resulted in a more orderly development of the game when compared to the swings in financial fortunes experience by English soccer. The authors also imply that the more inclusive development soccer structures enabled the game develop more widely because those with the money in baseball were primarily concerned with protecting their domestic markets.
The authors do a good job of illustrating how both sports are subject to the ‘peculiar’ economics of sport. While individual teams wish to dominate their sport they realise that to do so might damage the overall attractiveness of their sport. On the surface it would seem that baseball is better equipped to deal
with the issue because of its governance. Baseball also has collective bargaining agreements, the threat of relocation, and reverse-order drafts that help owners. However, even in this setting there is competition between teams. Owners hide baseball profits through Related Party Transactions (RPT). This is done to avoid the revenue sharing elements of the league’s agreement. It has been achieved through selling tickets via a subsidiary, ownership of related media companies, payments of large salaries to the owners, financial leverage via interest payments to the owners.
Individual soccer clubs face greater uncertainty than their baseball counterparts. They do not have a credible relocation threat. EU state aid rules have also limited public subsidies. There is greater uncertainty about the distribution of broadcast revenues as larger clubs bargain for a greater share. Overall there appears to be an increased concentration of financial resources. Szymanski & Zimbalist point out that the revenue gap between top and bottom teams in the English Premier League increased from 2:1 to 8:1 between 1950 and 2000.
While individual soccer clubs face greater uncertainty than their baseball counterparts, their sport continues to grow. Soccer appears to be making greater in roads into the American market than baseball in making into the international market.
Anyone interested in coming at sports economics from a historical perspective would appreciate this book.
Scorecasting
Review by John Considine
At the start of the 2005/6 season Chelsea moved away fans from behind the dugout to behind one of the goals. It was rumoured that the move was designed to reduce the influence of away fans on officials. Since then a number of English soccer clubs seems to have followed a similar strategy when positioning away fans (here). Anyone interested in understanding such changes should read Scorecasting by Tobais Moskowitz and Jon Wertheim.
Scorecasting is primarily a book about bias in sport. It is about the bias in the performance of competitors and officials. It is about bias arising from home field advantage. It is about the bias in the nationality of drug cheats. The authors identify, and provided support for, some biases we might have suspected. They undermine other biases conventional wisdom suggests exist. The book does devote some space to discussing standard sports economics issues such as competitive balance, the trade-off between profit maximisation and win maximisation, and how strategic behaviour message end of season statistics. However, the book is primarily about the human characteristics and biases that influence sporting performance.
Scorecasting is primarily a book about bias in sport. It is about the bias in the performance of competitors and officials. It is about bias arising from home field advantage. It is about the bias in the nationality of drug cheats. The authors identify, and provided support for, some biases we might have suspected. They undermine other biases conventional wisdom suggests exist. The book does devote some space to discussing standard sports economics issues such as competitive balance, the trade-off between profit maximisation and win maximisation, and how strategic behaviour message end of season statistics. However, the book is primarily about the human characteristics and biases that influence sporting performance.
Moskowitz & Wertheim devote a number of chapters in the book to the biased behaviour of officials. In the first chapter they explain, and illustrate, the concept of whistle swallowing. They argue that officials “swallow the whistle” as the game reaches boiling point towards the end of a game. According to Moskowitz & Wertheim this happens because sports fans (like people in general) view the failure to act as less harmful than inserting oneself into the action with a crucial call. They illustrate the point by comparing the officiating on two high profile sporting incidents. The first involved a pass from Eli Manning to David Tyree in Super Bowl XLII in 2008 (here). The official, Mike Carey, lets Manning make the pass even though he could have blown for a sack. Carey committed a sin of omission but was widely applauded for the decision. The second incident involved a tennis game between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters. An official correctly called Williams for a footfault (here). Williams explosive reaction cost her points and the match. The official, Shino Tsurubuchi, had to be escorted from the ground and was“working in anonymity” when the authors interviewed her months later. It seems she had committed the greater sin. The sin of commission.
Two other chapters in the book explore the reasons for home field advantage. One chapter examines the conventional explanations. The second chapter examines the role of the crowd on refereeing decisions. The authors provide a brief overview of some of the key academic literature on concepts like conformity bias. The authors also cite the work of others where uses data to support the bias hypothesis. One example is how referees alter the amount of injury time to suit home teams in soccer. Another example is how home teams strike out less or walk more in baseball.
What makes the Moskowitz & Wertheim book so compelling is their use of Pitch f/x and QuesTec. These monitoring/recording technologies allow the authors to test for biases in baseball. For example, they examined 5.5million pitches in the period 2002-2008. They compared stadiums with QuesTec and those without the technology. What did they find? “Called strikes and balls went the home team’s way, but only in stadiums without QuestTec, that is, ballparks where umpires were not being monitored.” This does not show officials in the best possible light. It suggests that, at some level, they know they are favouring the home teams. This is a bias that suggests a certain lack of backbone. However, there are other situations where the bias is more “acceptable”. Moskowitz & Wertheim use Pitch f/x to show that officials tend to favour those players behind in the count (here).
Another major plus in favour of the book is that it explains how statistics can mislead by accident and by design. Many books in this field tend to suggest that better decisions can be made where the people have the number and the methods. The authors recount how in the early 1980s a Dallas Cowboys executive came up with a quick way of assessing value in the NFL draft. Although it was never designed as the last word on player valuations, the McCoy system served the Cowboy well. As time passed, other teams got access to the McCoy system. However, the McCoy system was biased. Richard Thaler and Cade Massey discovered that there were inflated value being assigned to high draft picks. The unquestioning acceptance of the McCoy list had introduced its own bias.
A more deliberate bias in statistics occurs in when statistics are selected to support a particular arguments or where they are selected to paint extreme scenarios by media organisations. Moskowitz & Wertheim illustrate this point wonderfully with a very simple example. They point out that when a commentator says player X has achieved “four out of his last five” then it is likely the commentator is selecting the best case scenario. If the player had five out of his last six then the commentator would have said so. Therefore, “four out of his last five” means “four out of his last six” or worse.
It is no surprise that Scorecasting made it to the New York Times bestsellers list.
Two other chapters in the book explore the reasons for home field advantage. One chapter examines the conventional explanations. The second chapter examines the role of the crowd on refereeing decisions. The authors provide a brief overview of some of the key academic literature on concepts like conformity bias. The authors also cite the work of others where uses data to support the bias hypothesis. One example is how referees alter the amount of injury time to suit home teams in soccer. Another example is how home teams strike out less or walk more in baseball.
What makes the Moskowitz & Wertheim book so compelling is their use of Pitch f/x and QuesTec. These monitoring/recording technologies allow the authors to test for biases in baseball. For example, they examined 5.5million pitches in the period 2002-2008. They compared stadiums with QuesTec and those without the technology. What did they find? “Called strikes and balls went the home team’s way, but only in stadiums without QuestTec, that is, ballparks where umpires were not being monitored.” This does not show officials in the best possible light. It suggests that, at some level, they know they are favouring the home teams. This is a bias that suggests a certain lack of backbone. However, there are other situations where the bias is more “acceptable”. Moskowitz & Wertheim use Pitch f/x to show that officials tend to favour those players behind in the count (here).
Another major plus in favour of the book is that it explains how statistics can mislead by accident and by design. Many books in this field tend to suggest that better decisions can be made where the people have the number and the methods. The authors recount how in the early 1980s a Dallas Cowboys executive came up with a quick way of assessing value in the NFL draft. Although it was never designed as the last word on player valuations, the McCoy system served the Cowboy well. As time passed, other teams got access to the McCoy system. However, the McCoy system was biased. Richard Thaler and Cade Massey discovered that there were inflated value being assigned to high draft picks. The unquestioning acceptance of the McCoy list had introduced its own bias.
A more deliberate bias in statistics occurs in when statistics are selected to support a particular arguments or where they are selected to paint extreme scenarios by media organisations. Moskowitz & Wertheim illustrate this point wonderfully with a very simple example. They point out that when a commentator says player X has achieved “four out of his last five” then it is likely the commentator is selecting the best case scenario. If the player had five out of his last six then the commentator would have said so. Therefore, “four out of his last five” means “four out of his last six” or worse.
It is no surprise that Scorecasting made it to the New York Times bestsellers list.
GAAconomics: The secret life of money in the GAA
Review by John Considine
In the spring of 2007 the GAA spent €15,000 to ensure that three cockerels did not make it onto the Croke Park pitch. Avian flu and the visit of the French rugby team to Croke Park were the direct source of the costs. The three cockerels were killed and their bodies sent off for testing. Later that year, three Cork hurlers got off more lightly. However, it cost the GAA €25,000 to keep Donal Og Cusack, Diarmuid O’Sullivan and Sean Og O‘Hailpin off the playing fields.
These are costs that most economists would not discover without the help of journalists like Michael Moynihan. In his new book, GAAconomics: The Secret Life of Money in the GAA, Moynihan discusses many of the financial issues that face the Gaelic Athletic Association. The numbers are not the result of Moynihan trawling through the GAA accounts. Instead, the numbers arise in the course of a range of interviews he conducted with those involved.
These are costs that most economists would not discover without the help of journalists like Michael Moynihan. In his new book, GAAconomics: The Secret Life of Money in the GAA, Moynihan discusses many of the financial issues that face the Gaelic Athletic Association. The numbers are not the result of Moynihan trawling through the GAA accounts. Instead, the numbers arise in the course of a range of interviews he conducted with those involved.
At this stage, to explain any unintended bias in the review, I should say that I was one of those interviewed. In return for a couple of cups of coffee, a signed copy of the book, and an over generous acknowledgement, the author got about 4 hours of my time and some material for the book. I’m guessing a similar strategy was used with others.
The range of interviews is impressive. Moynihan reports on three interviews with ex-Presidents of the GAA. Not only did he get good access, the interviewees were willing to discuss plenty of sensitive issues. For example, Christy Cooney openly discusses his salary as President. It is easy to see why Tom Ryan, GAA Financial Director, says “the GAA is the most transparent place I’ve ever been”. Other Croke Park people interviewed include the Stadium Director, Peter McKenna, and the GAA Director-General Paraic Duffy. Moynihan also got informative interviews with provincial council people like Enda McGuane (Munster) and county board people like Ger Lane (Cork).
Economists Eamon O’Shea, Jim Power, and Pete Lunn also discussed their take on the economics of the GAA. O’Shea is Professor of Economics at NUIG and manager of the Tipperary Senior hurling team. Jim Power is economists at Friends First and a keen supporter of Waterford hurling. Pete Lunn has produced a variety of reports on a variety of sports through his work in the Economic and Social Research Institute.
There are interviews with GPA people like Dessie Farrell, Donal Og Cusack and Sean Potts find their way into the book. Others forthcoming with stories about the interaction of finance and the GAA include John Trainor (Onside Sponsorship), Mick O’Keeffe (Pembroke Communications), John Mullins (Bord Gais), and Ryle Nugent (RTE).
The subject of the various interviews and stories is fairly comprehensive. They range from the local to the national. Dickie Murphy tells a story of Wexford referees being asked for their PPS numbers by the Revenue Commissioners. Then there are stories about broadcasting rights, SKY and RTE. John Mullins explains why Bord Gais chose the u21 hurling championship as the competition they wanted to sponsor. Ger Lane discusses the benefit of league games versus championship games to a county. Enda McGuane explains the financial difficulties clubs find themselves in as a result of the excesses and mistakes of the last decade. Jerry Wallace explains the funding of facilities in Antrim by a fiscal authority other than the Irish government! All are informative.
The fact that the GAA is a governing body has important implications for some of the issues discussed. Jack Anderson (Queens University Belfast) discusses the costs of legal action in the GAA and the fact that the GAA only loses money in such situations. Moynihan confirms the same with the example of his own club - Glen Rovers. A related point is made by Tom Ryan when he explains how the money generated by Croke Park makes its way
back out to the provincial councils, county boards, and clubs. It is for this reason that the GAA sees benefits in restricting the amount of training inter-county teams can do (a winter training ban) and placing a spending cap on the preparation of teams. However, the individual county units, and specifically those assigned with preparing the county teams, do not see it the same way.
If one wants to see how the GAA reflects the broader issues in the country then one only needs to read the material related to the expenditure by the Kildare County Board. To aid their financial recovery Kildare were offered the expertise of Simon Moroney from the Munster Council. The County Board delegates showed a keen awareness of the similarities between the difficulties of county and country. Moroney was referred to as A.J. Chopra.
The range of interviews is impressive. Moynihan reports on three interviews with ex-Presidents of the GAA. Not only did he get good access, the interviewees were willing to discuss plenty of sensitive issues. For example, Christy Cooney openly discusses his salary as President. It is easy to see why Tom Ryan, GAA Financial Director, says “the GAA is the most transparent place I’ve ever been”. Other Croke Park people interviewed include the Stadium Director, Peter McKenna, and the GAA Director-General Paraic Duffy. Moynihan also got informative interviews with provincial council people like Enda McGuane (Munster) and county board people like Ger Lane (Cork).
Economists Eamon O’Shea, Jim Power, and Pete Lunn also discussed their take on the economics of the GAA. O’Shea is Professor of Economics at NUIG and manager of the Tipperary Senior hurling team. Jim Power is economists at Friends First and a keen supporter of Waterford hurling. Pete Lunn has produced a variety of reports on a variety of sports through his work in the Economic and Social Research Institute.
There are interviews with GPA people like Dessie Farrell, Donal Og Cusack and Sean Potts find their way into the book. Others forthcoming with stories about the interaction of finance and the GAA include John Trainor (Onside Sponsorship), Mick O’Keeffe (Pembroke Communications), John Mullins (Bord Gais), and Ryle Nugent (RTE).
The subject of the various interviews and stories is fairly comprehensive. They range from the local to the national. Dickie Murphy tells a story of Wexford referees being asked for their PPS numbers by the Revenue Commissioners. Then there are stories about broadcasting rights, SKY and RTE. John Mullins explains why Bord Gais chose the u21 hurling championship as the competition they wanted to sponsor. Ger Lane discusses the benefit of league games versus championship games to a county. Enda McGuane explains the financial difficulties clubs find themselves in as a result of the excesses and mistakes of the last decade. Jerry Wallace explains the funding of facilities in Antrim by a fiscal authority other than the Irish government! All are informative.
The fact that the GAA is a governing body has important implications for some of the issues discussed. Jack Anderson (Queens University Belfast) discusses the costs of legal action in the GAA and the fact that the GAA only loses money in such situations. Moynihan confirms the same with the example of his own club - Glen Rovers. A related point is made by Tom Ryan when he explains how the money generated by Croke Park makes its way
back out to the provincial councils, county boards, and clubs. It is for this reason that the GAA sees benefits in restricting the amount of training inter-county teams can do (a winter training ban) and placing a spending cap on the preparation of teams. However, the individual county units, and specifically those assigned with preparing the county teams, do not see it the same way.
If one wants to see how the GAA reflects the broader issues in the country then one only needs to read the material related to the expenditure by the Kildare County Board. To aid their financial recovery Kildare were offered the expertise of Simon Moroney from the Munster Council. The County Board delegates showed a keen awareness of the similarities between the difficulties of county and country. Moroney was referred to as A.J. Chopra.
Soccernomics/Why England Lose
By Robbie Butler
Soccernomics (2009) or Why England Lose & Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained (2010) are two of the most popular books combining football and economics. The books are written by two of the most revered authors in the field, academic Stefan Szymanski and journalist and Simon Kuper. Szymanski is probably the world's most preeminent researcher into the area of football and economics and has a plethora of sports books and journal articles to his name. Kuper, who also wrote the excellent The Football Men, is a regular correspondent on football matters and is probably best known for his column in the Financial Times.
Soccernomics and Why England Lose are written for two different markets. The latter is generally targeted at a European audience, with the former designed for the American market. With the exception of chapters 8 and 9 in Why England Lose, which focus on competitive balance and the ‘strange death of the FA Cup’, the remaining fourteen chapters are all in Soccernomics. The omission of chapters 8 and 9 in the American version permit the inclusion of a chapter called ‘Football (US) Versus Football (European)’ and requires little explanation. Other than the use of the word ‘soccer’ in one text and ‘football’ in the other, the books are largely identical.
Soccernomics (2009) or Why England Lose & Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained (2010) are two of the most popular books combining football and economics. The books are written by two of the most revered authors in the field, academic Stefan Szymanski and journalist and Simon Kuper. Szymanski is probably the world's most preeminent researcher into the area of football and economics and has a plethora of sports books and journal articles to his name. Kuper, who also wrote the excellent The Football Men, is a regular correspondent on football matters and is probably best known for his column in the Financial Times.
Soccernomics and Why England Lose are written for two different markets. The latter is generally targeted at a European audience, with the former designed for the American market. With the exception of chapters 8 and 9 in Why England Lose, which focus on competitive balance and the ‘strange death of the FA Cup’, the remaining fourteen chapters are all in Soccernomics. The omission of chapters 8 and 9 in the American version permit the inclusion of a chapter called ‘Football (US) Versus Football (European)’ and requires little explanation. Other than the use of the word ‘soccer’ in one text and ‘football’ in the other, the books are largely identical.
So what can the reader expect?
Three main sections are considered; clubs, fans and countries. The book commences with a review of England’s current international team and how the occupation of each player’s father is evidence that football really is a working-class game. Oddly enough, Western Europe’s comparative advantage in football is put down to its “user-friendly environment”.
My two favourites stories from the ‘clubs’ section are that of Olympique Lyon and the 2008 Champions League Final. Any prospective chairman need only review Lyon’s transfer actively during the 2000s to understand how to buy and sell players, while the Chelsea/Manchester United penalty shootout in the 2008 Champions League Final in Moscow is a must watch on YouTube. You’ll understand how Ignacio Palacious-Huerta tried to save Nicolas Anelka from missing his final spot-kick and how Edwin Van Der Sar used John Nash’s famous theory to second guess Anelka (watch for the pointing finger)!
The second section considers ‘the fans’ and shows that Costa Rica has more players per capita than any other country, while Croatia are the best football ‘couch potatoes’. I found the most interesting chapter in the section to be Chapter 12 which considers the subject of happiness. Szymanski and Kuper, building on the pioneering work of American academic Robert Baade, show how hosting major sporting events (a topic discussed at length on this blog) won’t make you richer but will make you happier. Would-be host countries take note. The idea to host a major sporting event is often floated in an attempt to re-start a sluggish economy. All that results is a higher national debt and happier citizens.
The final section focuses on ‘the countries’. Chapter 13 (Soccernomics) is probably the only chapter of the fifteen/sixteen (depending on the version) I didn’t enjoy. I found the methodology in this chapter to be sketchy at best. The relatively arbitrary ranking of countries based on sporting performance in various codes leads to quite meaningless results. However, for those interested Norway is the world’s most successful sporting nation. To find out why, you’ll need to read the book.
Finally, on a positive note for us Irish soccer fans, Szymanski and Kuper find the Boys in Green are the fifth most overachieving country in the world. Only Georgia, the former Yugoslavia, Croatia and Iceland are ahead of us.
Overall, Soccernomics or Why England Lose is a must read for the sports economic enthusiast. The text is sublimely written and will make you consider the beautiful game in an entirely different way. I know I’ll never watch those penalties in Moscow the same way again. If only Anelka had listened, John Terry might actually have lifted a European trophy without having to change into his gear moments before the final whistle!
Three main sections are considered; clubs, fans and countries. The book commences with a review of England’s current international team and how the occupation of each player’s father is evidence that football really is a working-class game. Oddly enough, Western Europe’s comparative advantage in football is put down to its “user-friendly environment”.
My two favourites stories from the ‘clubs’ section are that of Olympique Lyon and the 2008 Champions League Final. Any prospective chairman need only review Lyon’s transfer actively during the 2000s to understand how to buy and sell players, while the Chelsea/Manchester United penalty shootout in the 2008 Champions League Final in Moscow is a must watch on YouTube. You’ll understand how Ignacio Palacious-Huerta tried to save Nicolas Anelka from missing his final spot-kick and how Edwin Van Der Sar used John Nash’s famous theory to second guess Anelka (watch for the pointing finger)!
The second section considers ‘the fans’ and shows that Costa Rica has more players per capita than any other country, while Croatia are the best football ‘couch potatoes’. I found the most interesting chapter in the section to be Chapter 12 which considers the subject of happiness. Szymanski and Kuper, building on the pioneering work of American academic Robert Baade, show how hosting major sporting events (a topic discussed at length on this blog) won’t make you richer but will make you happier. Would-be host countries take note. The idea to host a major sporting event is often floated in an attempt to re-start a sluggish economy. All that results is a higher national debt and happier citizens.
The final section focuses on ‘the countries’. Chapter 13 (Soccernomics) is probably the only chapter of the fifteen/sixteen (depending on the version) I didn’t enjoy. I found the methodology in this chapter to be sketchy at best. The relatively arbitrary ranking of countries based on sporting performance in various codes leads to quite meaningless results. However, for those interested Norway is the world’s most successful sporting nation. To find out why, you’ll need to read the book.
Finally, on a positive note for us Irish soccer fans, Szymanski and Kuper find the Boys in Green are the fifth most overachieving country in the world. Only Georgia, the former Yugoslavia, Croatia and Iceland are ahead of us.
Overall, Soccernomics or Why England Lose is a must read for the sports economic enthusiast. The text is sublimely written and will make you consider the beautiful game in an entirely different way. I know I’ll never watch those penalties in Moscow the same way again. If only Anelka had listened, John Terry might actually have lifted a European trophy without having to change into his gear moments before the final whistle!
SPORTONOMIC$: The Statistical Truths Behind World Sports
Review by John Considine
Sportsonomic$ is a book you can judge by the cover.
The front of the book cover presents text and images of Cristiano Ronaldo, a Formula 1 car, and a sumo wrestler. The clear message is that this book covers a variety of interesting and popular topics. Reading it is similar to watching the BBC quiz show QI (Quite Interesting). The reader is presented with somewhat obscure but interesting information. It is a book of curious lists and thought provoking comparisons.
The front of the book cover presents text and images of Cristiano Ronaldo, a Formula 1 car, and a sumo wrestler. The clear message is that this book covers a variety of interesting and popular topics. Reading it is similar to watching the BBC quiz show QI (Quite Interesting). The reader is presented with somewhat obscure but interesting information. It is a book of curious lists and thought provoking comparisons.
The back of the book cover presents the biopic of the author (Gavin Newsham) who regularly contributes to mainstream newspapers, magazines and has a number of sports books, on different sports, to his credit. The message is clear – this man has a wide knowledge of sport and a proven capacity to present in it an accessible format for readers.
After an examination of the cover of the book the potential reader should be about to judge whether or not they are likely to like the book.
I like the book. It is one you can dip into over breakfast or a cup of coffee. You examine the contents page with is curious chapter titles, and sub-titles, and then read the six or seven pages of your choice.
The book also provides the reader with a treasure throve of sporting facts. Usually, the facts have a monetary value attached to them. Because of the format of the book it is difficult to provide too much detail without having to issue a spoiler-alert. You can discover what team (somewhat paradoxically) makes the most from shirt sponsorship or the top-5 players in terms of replica shirt sales. There are many examples of how much sports people get paid. Frequently, the pay of sports people is compared with other sports people and others (e.g. the US President). Then there are the chapters on the musical choices of sports people and a chapter on the best grossing sports films. I was not surprised to see that one of my favourite sports films, Bull Durham, did not make it.
After an examination of the cover of the book the potential reader should be about to judge whether or not they are likely to like the book.
I like the book. It is one you can dip into over breakfast or a cup of coffee. You examine the contents page with is curious chapter titles, and sub-titles, and then read the six or seven pages of your choice.
The book also provides the reader with a treasure throve of sporting facts. Usually, the facts have a monetary value attached to them. Because of the format of the book it is difficult to provide too much detail without having to issue a spoiler-alert. You can discover what team (somewhat paradoxically) makes the most from shirt sponsorship or the top-5 players in terms of replica shirt sales. There are many examples of how much sports people get paid. Frequently, the pay of sports people is compared with other sports people and others (e.g. the US President). Then there are the chapters on the musical choices of sports people and a chapter on the best grossing sports films. I was not surprised to see that one of my favourite sports films, Bull Durham, did not make it.
Newsham also provides a range of interesting lists and comparisons that are not denominated in monetary terms. He presents a list of the fastest ball games. He explains how sporting destiny might depend of birth dates and birth places. It might even depend on the colour of your shirt. He also considers sports participation rates and injuries. He presents the ratio of Twitter followers to followed for sports people. And then he compares these ratios to those of Lady Gaga and US President Obama.
In any future edition Gavin Newsham will be able to provide a list of the top selling sports economics books of 2013. Sportonomic$ has a good chance of making the list.
In any future edition Gavin Newsham will be able to provide a list of the top selling sports economics books of 2013. Sportonomic$ has a good chance of making the list.
THE NUMBERS GAME: Why Everything You Know about Football is Wrong
Review by John Considine
Almost a decade ago a sports economist I know recommended that I read Moneyball. Like most people who have read it, I loved the book. As this guy is always a good source of advice I asked him for some more recommendations earlier this summer. One of the books on the list he returned to me was The Numbers Game by Chris Anderson & David Sally. It is a fascinating read. Whereas Moneyball is a story of sport analytics built around its central character (Billy Beane), The Numbers Game is an argument for the use of sports analytics in football (soccer) using cameo appearances from characters like Andre Villas-Boas, Tony Pulis, Roberto Martinez and Marcus Bent.
The book is divided into four parts. The first part is labelled ‘Before the Match’. It is in this part that Anderson and Sally set out their case for sports analytics. For example, they devote plenty of space to why Chelsea should have bought Darran Bent rather than Fernando Torres. Their numbers suggest Bent’s goals were worth more than those of Torres. Anderson & Sally imply that Chelsea did not crunch the numbers. A similar point is made by Michael Lewis in Moneyball. If the baseball scouts had crunched the numbers then Beane may not have been seen as such a viable draft prospect – his batting average dropped from 0.500 in his senior year to 0.300 in his senior year.
In my view there is probably a slight bias in the Anderson & Sally argument in the first part of the book. This is something they correct later in the book when they explain one of the major limitations of sports analytics as it now stands. When discussing the art of defending Anderson& Sally present the Maldini Principle. Roughly speaking, the Maldini Principle is that if you defend properly then tackling is the last resort. They argue that, by overlooking the Maldini Principle, Alex Ferguson made one of his (self-confessed) biggest mistakes in selling Jaap Stam. The numbers showed that Stam was making less tackles so Ferguson sold him. The problem with the numbers is that they show what happened rather than what does not happen. A well-positioned defender can stymie an attack just as easily as a crunching tackle. The former does not show up in the numbers whereas the latter does. Again there are similarities with Moneyball where Beane questions the use of fielding error statistics to judge players.
In my view there is probably a slight bias in the Anderson & Sally argument in the first part of the book. This is something they correct later in the book when they explain one of the major limitations of sports analytics as it now stands. When discussing the art of defending Anderson& Sally present the Maldini Principle. Roughly speaking, the Maldini Principle is that if you defend properly then tackling is the last resort. They argue that, by overlooking the Maldini Principle, Alex Ferguson made one of his (self-confessed) biggest mistakes in selling Jaap Stam. The numbers showed that Stam was making less tackles so Ferguson sold him. The problem with the numbers is that they show what happened rather than what does not happen. A well-positioned defender can stymie an attack just as easily as a crunching tackle. The former does not show up in the numbers whereas the latter does. Again there are similarities with Moneyball where Beane questions the use of fielding error statistics to judge players.
The second part of the book is about the football that takes place on the pitch. One of the best chapters in the book is located in this part. Anderson & Sally explain the Yin and Yang of football in chapter 4. The chapter is titled ‘Dark and Light’ and it identified the value of defending and attacking. It is from this point of departure that they discuss the value of possession and a long-ball strategy. It is in this part of the book that Tony Pulis and his Stoke City team appear as the anti-heros as they convert less possession of the ball into more points than many other teams.
An interesting feature of the discussion on the long-ball strategy is how it was once deemed the best strategy based on early numbers collected by people like Charles Repp.
In the third part of the book Anderson & Sally move on from discussing the football to examining how to utilise the human resources available – players and managers. Here they examine the likely success of teams with different combinations of good and non-so-good players. Not surprisingly, the authors examine the Galacticos project at Real Madrid and they find that a better strategy can sometimes be to strengthen/replace the weakest link rather add more star players.
Anderson & Sally also have advice about the recruitment and support of management. Using numbers on managerial sackings they find that many a sacking is unjustified and a result of a poor understanding. They also argue that many a manager is recruited based on the belief that they, and their success, can be easily transplanted to a new environment. This is a mistake. Without replicating the supports the manager had previously then many of the recruitments are unlikely to be the success expected. Their favourite example is Andre Villas-Boas and his time at Chelsea – although they point to some numbers that suggest that Villas-Boas was more successful at Chelsea than he was given credit for.
The fourth part of the book is the shortest. It presents some forecasts about the likely direction of football and the role of sports analytics. It may make interesting reading ten years from now. As of now, the reader can reflect on how Martinez and Wigan were relegated while Tony Pulis lost his job despite keeping Stoke City in the Premier League. Another interesting postscript is how Andre Villas-Boas has returned to London to manage Spurs. In his first season in charge he managed them to a position similar to the Harry Redknapp. We will have to wait and see if the forecasts in the last chapter of the book are accurate or not.
For anyone interested in the way data on the performance of sports teams can be used the book is well worth reading.
An interesting feature of the discussion on the long-ball strategy is how it was once deemed the best strategy based on early numbers collected by people like Charles Repp.
In the third part of the book Anderson & Sally move on from discussing the football to examining how to utilise the human resources available – players and managers. Here they examine the likely success of teams with different combinations of good and non-so-good players. Not surprisingly, the authors examine the Galacticos project at Real Madrid and they find that a better strategy can sometimes be to strengthen/replace the weakest link rather add more star players.
Anderson & Sally also have advice about the recruitment and support of management. Using numbers on managerial sackings they find that many a sacking is unjustified and a result of a poor understanding. They also argue that many a manager is recruited based on the belief that they, and their success, can be easily transplanted to a new environment. This is a mistake. Without replicating the supports the manager had previously then many of the recruitments are unlikely to be the success expected. Their favourite example is Andre Villas-Boas and his time at Chelsea – although they point to some numbers that suggest that Villas-Boas was more successful at Chelsea than he was given credit for.
The fourth part of the book is the shortest. It presents some forecasts about the likely direction of football and the role of sports analytics. It may make interesting reading ten years from now. As of now, the reader can reflect on how Martinez and Wigan were relegated while Tony Pulis lost his job despite keeping Stoke City in the Premier League. Another interesting postscript is how Andre Villas-Boas has returned to London to manage Spurs. In his first season in charge he managed them to a position similar to the Harry Redknapp. We will have to wait and see if the forecasts in the last chapter of the book are accurate or not.
For anyone interested in the way data on the performance of sports teams can be used the book is well worth reading.