Description

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For those fascinated by business dealings in the trillion-dollar global sport industry, this is the anthology you’ve been waiting for. The Sport Business Handbook: Insights From 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry provides insider perspectives from more than 100 of the biggest names in the sport industry. Plentiful examples and stories, including insiders’ views of major sport deals, offer an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the intricacies of sport business. Plus, this revised edition includes brand-new contributions addressing the adaptability and recovery of sport following the pandemic as well as a “Breakthrough Moments” list of the 50 most significant sport-related moments to offer societal context and historical depth.

Editor Rick Horrow, an internationally known sport business and sport law expert who has been the architect of more than 100 deals worth more than $20 billion, has teamed up with renowned sport business scholar and practitioner Rick Burton and author Myles Schrag to assemble one of the most unique sport books ever published. You will be both informed and entertained by the personal insights of prominent sport business leaders, including league commissioners such as Gary Bettman, Don Garber, and Paul Tagliabue; team owners such as Jerry Colangelo and Tom Ricketts; executives such as Larry Lucchino and Pat Williams; administrators such as Joe Castiglione and Deborah Yow; professional athletes such as Scott Hamilton and Cal Ripken Jr.; and media personalities such as Jay Bilas and Ann Meyers Drysdale. This all-star team also includes legendary Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski as the foreword author.

The Sport Business Handbook gives you guidance for everything from the basics of breaking into the sport industry to the intricate skills required to become an industry giant:

• Consider the role you want to play, what your values are, and how you can set yourself up for success in the industry.
• Understand the value of brand management and the opportunities for those with strong knowledge and skills in this area.
• Embrace technology and use the power of modern media to guide your organization toward its goals.
• Master leadership skills by establishing a framework for thinking and behaving as a leader at all times.

Each chapter addresses a specific topic and weaves in story-like sidebars that share rare glimpses into professional dealings in sport. These 80-plus sidebars include “Game Changer” sidebars, which describe pivotal moments that influenced sport leaders as they strived for success, and “360” sidebars, which present alternative perspectives so all viewpoints are explored in finding best practices.

Nowhere else will you find such a comprehensive guide with practical advice and personal stories from the biggest names in the industry. The Sport Business Handbook is an engaging, informative book that will help you discover your strengths and develop your skills so you can become one of the leaders to shape the sport business industry for the next 50 years.

About the Author

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Rick Horrow, JD, is a leading expert in the business of sport and has orchestrated over 100 deals worth more than $20 billion. The CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures (HSV), he has served as a sport business analyst for SportsGrid Television and Radio Network, Fox Sports, Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg Businessweek, Reuters, NBC, PBS, and the BBC. As the leading commentator on sport business and as a well-connected entrepreneur, he has access to many of the top names in sport, including commissioners, owners, general managers, coaches, and athletes. His clients have included some of the biggest organizations and companies in the world of sport and business: NFL, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, PGA, Great White Shark Enterprises, Cisco Systems, Golden Bear International, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, LPGA, and MLS. He has also been managing editor of sports business for the U.S. Library of Congress. Horrow is nicknamed the Sports Professor, thanks to his time spent as a visiting expert on sport law at Harvard Law School, where he earned his degree.

Rick Burton, MBA, is the award-winning David B. Falk Endowed Professor of Sport Management in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University. He has also served as Syracuse’s faculty athletics representative to the NCAA and ACC since 2014. Prior to his appointment at Syracuse in 2009, he served as the chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He also previously held the position of commissioner of Australia’s National Basketball League (2003 to 2007), which featured teams in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. From 1995 to 2003, Burton led the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center to international prominence. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Sports Business Journal, Sportico, Sport Business International, Stadia, and Ad Age. He has published numerous coauthored books (20 Secrets to Success for NCAA Student-Athletes, Forever Orange, and Sports Business Unplugged), and his latest book, Business the NHL Way: Lessons From the Fastest Game on Ice, will be published by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. Burton is also an advisor for Playbk Sports, Point 3, and XV Capital.

Myles Schrag, MS, is a former acquisitions and developmental editor at Human Kinetics, responsible for its sport management book list for 13 years. He is a cofounder of Soulstice Publishing and the author of six books and coeditor of two books. His freelance credits include Sports Illustrated, Publishers Weekly, Runner’s World Online, and Trail Runner. He earned an MS in kinesiology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He lives in Flagstaff, Arizona.