Why England Lose & Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained

SIMON KUPER

Stefan Szymanski

Harper-collins Publishers

This text uses extensive statistical and documentary evidence to illustrate how football works as a business, and the techniques of business strategy to explain why some clubs are winners and others are not. After a historical description of football's finances, it moves to a contemporary analysis of the current state of the game financially, and also provides a number of general questions that should be of interest to students of business and economics. Embedded in the text are various analyses of the modern English game, including a league table of major teams that compares success on the field with that off the field since the war.

Winners and Losers: the Business Strategy of Football

Sports & Outdoors

Viking Adult

This is the story of two great sports. One is "America's game," while the other is "the world's game." Baseball and soccer are both beloved cultural institutions. What draws fans to one game is often a mystery to fans of the other. Despite superficial differences, however, the business and culture of these sports share more in common than meets the eye. This is the first in-depth, cross-cultural comparison of these two great pastimes and the megabusinesses that they have become.
In National Pastime, Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist illustrate how the different traditions of each sport have generated different possibilities for their commercial organization and exploitation. They pay special attention to the rich and complex evolution of baseball from its beginnings in America, and they trace modern soccer from its foundation in England through its subsequent expansion across the world. They illustrate how Victorian administrators laid the foundation for Major League Baseball (MLB) and soccer leagues such as the English Premier League, Italy's Serie A, and the European Champions League. The authors show how the organizers of baseball and soccer have learned from each other in the past and how they can continue to do so.
Both sports are rich in tradition. In some cases, however, these traditions—often arbitrary rules established by long-defunct administrators—have obstructed the healthy development of the sport. By studying the experiences of other sports, it might be possible to develop new and better ways to operate. For example, soccer might benefit from greater cooperation among teams as in baseball. On the other hand, MLB could learn from soccer's relegation rules and more open system of ownership, thus avoiding some of the excesses (competitive imbalance, uneven team resources) associated with monopoly.
National Pastime does not advocate the jettisoning of all tradition to adopt wholesale the approach of another sport, of course. In an era of globalization, where business interests are increasingly looking to transplant organizational ideas in order to maximize profits, the authors argue that fan-friendly reforms may be necessary in order to avoid something worse. Ultimately, they propose no simple solutions, instead suggesting specific reforms to the organization of baseball and soccer, drawing on each other's experiences. Lively and accessibly written, this book is essential reading for business analysts, journalists, policymakers, and managers of both sports. Most of all, however, it will appeal to baseball and soccer aficionados, whether they root for the New York Yankees, Manchester United, or Real Madrid.

National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer

Business & Money

Andrew Zimbalist

Economics

Brookings Institution Press

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Named one of the Best Books of the Year” by Guardian, Slate, Financial Times, Independent (UK), and Bloomberg News Soccernomics pioneers a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous, empirical analysis and incisive, witty commentary. The San Francisco Chronicle describes it as the most intelligent book ever written about soccer.” This World Cup edition features new material, including a provocative examination of how soccer clubs might actually start making profits, why that's undesirable, and how soccer's never had it so good.

Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey -- and Even Iraq -- Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport

Industries

Bold Type Books

Money and Soccer: A Soccernomics Guide

Hachette

Soccernomics: Why England Loses; Why Germany, Spain, and France Win; and Why One Day Japan, Iraq, and the United States Will Become Kings of the World's ... the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport

Handbook on the Economics of Sport (Elgar Original Reference)

`Over 800 pages on the economics of sport. What a feast! What a treat! The editors have done a wonderful job both in terms of breadth - from David Beckham to child labour in Pakistan - and depth, tournaments and luxury taxes for example. . . The 86 chapters are uniformly of a very high standard and illuminating. And there are real gems in some of the contributions.' - British Journal on the Economics of Sport `The knowledge base represented by this volume is impressive. The collection of papers also admirably demonstrates the power of economic analysis to provide insights to the workings of the world in which we live.' - Economic Outlook and Business Review 
`The worldwide growth in sports participation, attendance and broadcasting has spawned a lively interest in economic analysis of sporting activities. The Handbook on the Economics of Sport is an original reference work by a stellar group of 65 experts whose monographs cover virtually all the significant aspects of the field. It is unique and valuable because of its global perspective, with contributors from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Prominent editors Wladimir Andreff and Stefan Szymanski recognize the importance of intellectual rigour in the essays. There is a nice blend of theory, practice and econometrics, with emphasis on empirical results, which should appeal to a broad spectrum of readers. The book's thoughtful organization, comprehensive coverage and authoritative analysis make it an indispensable resource for sports scholars and practitioners. Publisher Edward Elgar has distinguished itself by providing first-rate books on sports economics and is the premier literary source on this important new branch of social science.' - Paul Staudohar, former President of the International Association of Sports Economics (1992-2002), and co-founder of the Journal of Sports Economics 
'The editors should be commended for taking on such a big task, and succeeding so well. This book should be in the library of every institution where students have to write a paper that may be related to sport, or on the shelf of any lecturer teaching economics or public finance who has even a remote interest in sport. The material is very accessible, and useful in many different settings.' - Ruud H. Koning, Jahrbucher f. Nationalokonomie u. Statistik 
This comprehensive handbook provides a survey of all the major research areas in sports economics written by almost all of the active researchers in this field. It offers not only an accessible insight into the major findings of the literature but also presents some of the world's principal researchers' views on the unanswered questions that face us today. Issues covered include: 
* sport in the economy * the demand for sport * cost-benefit analysis of sport * sporting governance and the state * individualistic sports * team sports * dysfunctions in sport including discrimination, doping and corruption. 
It is an indispensable guide to one of the most lively and rapidly evolving fields of economics.

Wladimir Andreff

Edward Elgar Publishing

Dure spitsen scoren niet: en andere raadsels van het voetbal verklaard

Nieuw Amsterdam

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Books by Stefan Szymanski