Why would a Japanese millionaire want to buy the Seattle Mariners baseball team, when he has admitted that he has never played in or even seen a baseball game? Cash is the answer: major league baseball, like professional football, basketball, and hockey, is now big business with the potential to bring millions of dollars in profits to owners. Not very long ago, however, buying a sports franchise was a hazardous investment risked only by die-hard fans wealthy enough to lose parts of fortunes made in other businesses. What forces have changed team ownership from sports-fan folly to big-business savvy? Why has "The Wall Street Journal" become popular reading in pro sports locker rooms? And why are sports pages now dominated by economic clashes between owners and players, cities with franchises and cities without them, leagues and players' unions, and team lawyers and players' lawyers? In answering these questions, James Quirk and Rodney Fort have written the most complete book on the business and economics of professional sports, past and present.

"Pay Dirt" offers a wealth of information and analysis on the reserve clause, salary determination, competitive balance in sports leagues, the market for franchises, tax sheltering, arenas and stadiums, and rival leagues. The authors present an abundance of historical material, much of it new, including team ownership histories and data on attendance, TV revenue, stadium and arena contracts, and revenues and costs. League histories, team statistics, stories about players and owners, and sports lore of all kinds embellish the work. Quirk and Fort are writing for anyone interested in sports in the 1990s: players, players' agents, general managers, sportswriters, and, most of all, sports fans.

The active economy incorporates several disciplines that include sport performance, sport business, recreation, tourism, physical activity, urban planning, leisure, and health and wellness, among others. From an academic and policy perspective, these disciplines are typically viewed as distinct, with only limited spillover, and consequently, limited research explores the interaction between them. However, each individual sector can be studied as interdependent rather than autonomous. By viewing the various sectors as part of a complex active ecosystem, policymakers and practitioners are better positioned to shape broad opportunities while maximizing the community value of sports, recreation, and wellness. Understanding the Active Economy and Emerging Research on the Value of Sports, Recreation, and Wellness provides a new view on the fields of sport, recreation, and health and wellness by exploring the interaction between these traditional separate disciplines. It includes sub-groups of the active economy such as health and wellness, active apparel and accessories, active equipment and sports betting but also ties in sub-groups from the ancillary sector such as tourism, design and infrastructure, media and content, and professional services. This book is intended for professionals, educators, and researchers working in the fields of sports, recreation, and health and wellness, as well as economists, executives, managers, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how sports, recreation, and wellness operate in the active economy.

Sports clubs and voluntary organisations, in many cases, have become large and complex entities with strong membership numbers and significant budgets. Yet they are still operated by people who are essentially volunteers and, although they do so with the best motivations, far too often they are not equipped to deal with many of the areas in which they are involved. IT’S YOUR CLUB!, based on many years of practical experience of club committees, boards of directors and national councils, addresses many of the situations that cause problems for the officers of such clubs. It covers all aspects of the administration that supports the operation of the various functions of the club, explaining aspects of committees and their roles, the roles of the main officers, the importance of governance, the advantages of strategic planning, how leadership and management play different roles and how current legislation, such as child protection, affects the modern voluntary organisation. The political, economic and social environment in which sports clubs now operate has changed significantly and clubs need to adapt to ensure that they not only survive but are equipped to facilitate change and further development. IT’S YOUR CLUB! provides the definitive text on the leadership and management of sports clubs and will give club officers the confidence to make decisions vital to their club’s viability.