Is there something that can beat the voracious beast of the market? Join us as we explore Money and Soccer – a study of the workings of big money football.
In the language of commerce, Soccer clubs are in the entertainment business. However, that is almost as profane as saying that the Catholic Church is in the counselling business.
I’m convinced online commerce is one of 20th century’s greatest gifts to mankind, and Jeff Bezos’ brainchild Amazon is one of its best proponents. Rummaging through the mountain that is Amazon’s collection of books, I spotted a blue number which had the word ‘Soccernomics’ as part of the subtitle. I checked for the author and saw Stefan Szymanski’s name (one-half of the brains behind Soccernomics, the definitive study football’s relationship with economics). Reflexes took over and ‘Money and Soccer’ was ordered even before the process of ordering registered on my brain.
The full major course that Soccernomics was, Money and Soccer is the de-facto textbook for one of its credits, and probably the most important one. It beautifully explores the impact of cold, hard cash on the sport of football and as a result the fans and the culture around it. The personality of the book exudes the author’s academic background. Stefan Szymanski is currently the Co-Director for the Centre of Sports Management at the University of Michigan. The focus of his current research is sports management and economics.