Players

Anyone who follows sports knows money is at the crux of, well, everything. What Matthew Futterman details, and what George Newbern clearly describes, is the genesis of how money took root in the games we love. Newburn's storytelling abilities help give an identity to the real-life characters in many athletic, marketing, and contractual endeavors. Futterman's narrative is fascinating; it's not bogged down in too many statistics. Newbern's narration fits the story well--with the right amount of intonation, surprise, and inflection. Chapters include a variety of topics: Catfish Hunter's battle over an annuity in baseball, the founding of a sports academy, and the biography of vanguard agent Mark McCormack are three of the best ones, with Newbern keeping perfect pace. M.B. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

February 1, 2016
Futterman, who writes on sports for the Wall Street Journal, examines how the income distribution of several major sportsgolf, tennis, football, baseball, basketball, and track and fieldshifted from a handful of owners and businesses to the athletes who actually play them. That shift might have begun with Mark McCormack, who wanted to help generate more income for golfers on the pro tour during the 1950s (while getting his cut), when they were making a pittance next to the fortunes they earned for their sponsors. He started with a young up-and-comer named Arnold Palmer, whose net worth today is estimated at $675 million. McCormack would then broaden Wimbledon's global presence with hugely lucrative TV deals that generated much larger winnings for tournament players. Futterman's chapter on Marvin Miller and the growth of the Major League Players Association is probably old news to most fans, but, all in all, this an insightful, reader-friendly study of the economic transformation of pro sports in America and beyond.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)