David G. Surdam

Author, Speaker, Professor of Economics

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Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 9780252039140
Purchase at Amazon

The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989

Author: David G. Surdam
Published: January 1, 2015

Between 1951 and 1989, Congress held a series of hearings to investigate the antitrust aspects of professional sports leagues. Among the concerns: ownership control of players, restrictions on new franchises, territorial protection, and other cartel-like behaviors.

In The Big Leagues Go to Washington, David Surdam chronicles the key issues that arose during the hearings and the ways opposing sides used economic data and theory to define what was right, what was feasible, and what was advantageous to one party or another. As Surdam shows, the hearings affected matters as fundamental to the modern game as broadcasting rights, player drafts and unions, league mergers, and the dominance of the New York Yankees. He also charts how lawmakers from the West and South pressed for the relocation of ailing franchises to their states and the ways savvy owners dodged congressional interference when they could and adapted to it when necessary. — Provided by publisher

REVIEWS

“One need not hold a Ph.D. in economics to follow Surdam’s arguments, yet the book will also appeal to those who do.”–Michael Haupert, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

“Surdam has made a fine contribution to not only the history of sports antitrust, but more broadly to our understanding of how sports leagues and franchises rose to such economic and cultural power in modern America.”–Sport in American History

BOOKS

2001-Nothern-Naval-Supeiority-and-the-Economics-of-the-Civil-War - copy
2008-The-Post-War-Yankees
2010-The-Ball-Game-Biz
2011-Wins,-Looses,-&-Empty-Seats
2012-The-Rise-of-the-National-Basketball-Association
2013-Run-to-Glory-and-Profits
2015-The-Big-Leagues-Go-to-Washington
2015-Century-of-the-Leisured-Masses
The Age of Ruth and Landis: The Economics of Baseball during the Roaring Twenties
Business Ethics from the 19th Century to Today: An Economist's View
Business Ethics from Antiquity to the 19th Century: An Economist's View
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