For all the billions of dollars the sports industry generates, its labor laws and negotiations are still relatively new, and their impact is only beginning to be felt. Labor Relations in Professional Sports offers a step-by-step examination of how these new management-player relationships have come about and what they may portend for the future. In an engaging style that is rich in sports history and anecdotes, the authors examine the background of the major team sports–baseball, football, basketball, and hockey–and analyze how business and legal considerations have affected each sport’s development. They also probe current unresolved issues and predictable future problems, such as the relationships of broadcast networks and sports leagues. Surprisingly, this book with so formidable a title is not only readable but even difficult to put down. Explanations of complex legal decisions are reduced to brief, lucid passages. Extensive footnotes are provided in each chapter for readers who wish greater detail.

Choice

… a comprehensive treatment of labor relations in sports… . Overall, the book is a slam-dunk success.

Journal of Law and Commerce