The Big Time: How the 1970s Transformed Sports in America

by Michael MacCambridge

“Indispensable history.” –Sally Jenkins, bestselling author of The Right Call

A captivating chronicle of the pivotal decade in American sports, when the games invaded prime time, and sports moved from the margins to the mainstream of American culture.

Every decade brings change, but as Michael MacCambridge chronicles in THE BIG TIME, no decade in American sports history featured such convulsive cultural shifts as the 1970s. So many things happened during the decade—the move of sports into prime-time television, the beginning of athletes’ gaining a sense of autonomy for their own careers, integration becoming—at least within sports—more of the rule than the exception, and the social revolution that brought females more decisively into sports, as athletes, coaches, executives, and spectators. More than politicians, musicians or actors, the decade in America was defined by its most exemplary athletes. The sweeping changes in the decade could be seen in the collective experience of Billie Jean King and Muhammad Ali, Henry Aaron and Julius Erving, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Joe Greene, Jack Nicklaus and Chris Evert, among others, who redefined the role of athletes and athletics in American culture. The Seventies witnessed the emergence of spectator sports as an ever-expanding mainstream phenomenon, as well as dramatic changes in the way athletes were paid, portrayed, and packaged. In tracing the epic narrative of how American sports was transformed in the Seventies, a larger story of how America itself changed, and how spectator sports moved decisively on a trajectory toward what it has become today, the last truly “big tent” in American culture.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, American History, Baseball

497 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What would happen in the following ten years [1970-1980] was unforeseeable to most of the athletes who played sports, and almost all of the owners and administrators who ran sports, as well as the tens of millions of fans who followed sports. While the essence of sports would remain unchanged, the context and gravity of the games would be reshaped in the decade ahead." -- page 30

Ah, the 70's. It's tempting to reduce it to a type of shorthand - usually involving Nixon's resignation, disco music, and now-questionable fashion / attire - but with MacCambridge's The Big Time he takes a serious and fairly elaborate look at professional athletics in the 'Me Decade.' It was a time when Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in tennis' "Battle of the Sexes"; when Muhammad Ali made his multiple two-fisted comebacks after nearly three years of forced retirement after being stripped of his boxing title; when Braves slugger Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth's longstanding home run record in achieving '715'; when the NBA (and its relatively short-lived upstart competitor ABA) began to speedily surpass college basketball in popularity with an influx of new talent like 'Magic' Johnson and Larry Bird; when football - featuring such lively NFL squads as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, or Dallas Cowboys, and the debut of ABC's innovative 'Monday Night Football' series - finally overtook baseball for that title of our 'national pastime'; and the start of a new cable TV network with the odd moniker ESPN, which crazily offered sports for 24 hours a day / seven days a week. (Yeah, that'll never work. 🤣) When author MacCambridge focuses on the personalities - not just King, Ali, and Aaron, but also golfer Jack Nicklaus, dunker Julius 'Dr. J' Erving, and 'Mean Joe' Greene (w/ his indelible Coca-Cola commercial in '79) - and their experiences, it is a great mix of American history, first-hand anecdotes, and social commentary. Admittedly, I was far less enthralled with the occasional forays into college athletics - although well-written as the rest of the book, I just had less interest in those sections, and they did not have the same resonance as the focus on the 'pros.' Still, it was sort of fascinating to see how the occurrences of that ten-year period set the stage for the various sporting events as we know, enjoy, and watch them in the present-day.

[Ben Philpott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fascinating! Following several storylines that helped define the decade, the book takes you deep into the lives of the 70’s most important athletes and provides amazing descriptions and play-by-play of the decades greatest moments on and off the field.

Just go buy the book. You will love it.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who followed sports during the decade of the 1970’s, they were certainly not the same at the end of the decade as they were at the beginning. This is true no matter which game, league or athletes one examined. This was also a reflection of the changes in American society and these are tied nicely together and told in wonderful prose in this book by Michael MacCambridge.

While many different sports and social topics are covered in this book, women’s sports and how they affected the feminist movement of the 1970’s is the most prominent theme in the book. The big events are covered, of course, such as the “battle of the sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, but there is much more to this topic. The best example has nothing to do with action on a playing surface but in board rooms.

The Association for Intercollegiate Atheletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern women’s college sports. They were more about opportunity than for competition, and they believed Title IX, passed in 1972 and an important point mentioned several times in the book, would be the final hurdle to their goals. However, the NCAA, having other ideas, was incorporating those sports into their programs in order to comply with the law and they eventually took over all women’s programs. While it was sad for those AIAW members, it was important to note the progress made.

Similar write ups are in the book for other social issues such as racial equality and labor rights in various sports. It is noted how important the decision by arbitrator Peter Seitz to strike down baseball’s reserve clause had a ripple effect in all other sports when it came to free agency for players. Some sports adapted free agency more quickly than others and it didn’t come without significant labor strife, but that is also an important topic when it comes to 1970’s sports.

Of course, the text isn’t limited to just these types of topics. There are several passages about the actual games played as well and the variety of sports covered is tremendous. Just about any particular game you can think of that was played in front of spectators was covered. That is one of the best aspects of this book – the variety.

I wish to thank Grand Central Publishing for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Steve Schmieder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's definitely a nostalgic trip back through the 70s. I felt transported (using Mr. Peabody's and Sherman's way-back machine) to all the big sports moments when I was growing up, but not realizing the impact those events would have on the culture of America. It was interesting to learn the effect these events had in spurring significant policy changes in our institutions, especially for women. It's true. Sports are much more than just a game.

[Marlan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you grew up in this decade, you’ll realize what you lived through and have great memories revisited; if you didn’t, you’ll be amazed at what was going on (or not) in the not so distant past.
Lost one star only because there was a little too much devoted to the whole women’s movement - necessary, absolutely; too much, yes as well..

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed remembering the big sports stories of my teens and learning the broader implications of them. While the labor and women's issues are important, my mind was spinning trying to keep track of all of the different acronyms and organizations invovled.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. Less a general history of sports and more US history viewed through the lens of sports. Your dad is gonna love it.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rare more-than-one-star review for a book I didn't finish. I read about 120 pages. At 400+ pages of actual reading, this thing is far, far, far too long.

This isn't bad by any means. The writing is fine, the book completely readable. I didn't find the author too preachy or over the top political. Exceptionally difficult considering the decade he is writing about and today's world. For the most part, he states the facts and leaves the conclusions up to the reader.

I was hoping for something a little lighter. I really enjoyed Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, and was looking for something more like that to read. This wasn't really it.

These names and events are completely random. I guess I just don't have the brain for these random names. I don't know who these random female coaches are, or the executives at the TV stations, or the head of the NCAA, or the boxing promoters, or the female tennis players, or the male tennis players, or the head of the marble playing foundation. Name drop after name drop after name drop.

I don't see a coherent whole being made out of the mess. These are random events (many of which actually seem to happen in the 1960's) and appear to either happen in a vacuum or to have no lasting effect at all. A lot of the items lack a lot of context. Our author does on okay job at pointing out the foundation of the issue, typically in the cultural upheaval that is the 60's, but then never takes the ramifications to their current state (good and bad).

Some of the fallout here in 2024 is recognizable, Title IX has changed the landscape of sports and education. Frazier v. Ali is still a cultural phenomena.

A female basketball coach working a lot of hours . . .
A tennis player you've never heard of losing to another tennis player you've never heard of . . .
Two, three, four different associations for female sports . . .

Which really is my biggest complaint with the topic and the treatment in its entirety. These events are taken, by and large, as positive within the culture, very little here is painted as negative. And yet, the social upheaval within our own times has roots within these events.

Athletes, given the ability to test the free market, have become overpaid children playing a game. A kids' highest dream is to be a professional athlete. Not a doctor, not an engineer, not a teacher, nor a father/mother, not a farmer, nor a plumber, nor any of the millions of jobs that are truly the glue of our society. They aspire to be athletes; something that should be a distraction or a game on a slow Saturday; not something to build a life around.

Free Agency ruined any loyalty or pride within a city. Lebron James has switched teams dramatically three times, and baseball is the absolute worst for falling in love with a player only to see him go to New York or LA. And we are no longer talking about making enough money to feed your family, or to afford your home. We are now talking about 4 homes and mansions for football players with 20+ bathrooms. Most of these players are broke five years after retirement. This is a far cry from what the random guys in the 1970's were fighting for.

Everything within the world of college sports (especially the BIG sports: football and basketball) is utterly broken. Kids making millions while in college, men and women kept as children so they can entertain the elites within the society by ruining their minds and bodies.

Even high school sports have gone too far. We televise kids signing on to go to college. We rank the best high school athletes. We force kids to play a single sport far too young, and then push them far too hard. Is there ever a time when sports are just supposed to be fun?

Owners still say they don't have enough. Players still say they aren't paid enough. Tax money gets used on football stadiums to cater to the rich and elite. Riots happen when teams win. The political aspirations of players are now forced onto the fans. Trans-athletes, concussions, rampant cheating, huge gambling problems.

I love sports. Love them.

But the world of sports is deeply, deeply, broken because of this stuff from the 1970's. Not every change is progress.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. This isn't simply some list fo who won what championships and won the biggest stars are. Mind you, more than a few stars make an appearance in this book, but the real focus is the interplay between sports and the overall American culture. Big moments and famous athletes matter mostly when they resonate with some larger point. For example, OJ Simpson's 2000 yard season gets a few pages, in part to note how Simpson became one of hte first prominent black athlete endorsers. Other moments are mentioned for showing how individual sports (or sports in general) became more prominent, such as the Magic-Bird duo in 1979 March Madness and sbusequent jump to the NBA.

It isn't just a random grab bag of stuff. A few major themes emerge. First: the increasing prominence of sports in American culture. In 1970s, sports were just local broadcast or weekend fodder; they wer seeen as too niche (just guys, maybe just working class guys) to justify a primetime broadcast. Then came Monday Night Football, the World Series' first night games, Battle of the Sexes, and by the mid-1970s, sports was clearly becoming more central to US culture in general.

Second, and related, is the rise of sporting media. It started off dominated by print media, and thanks first to Roone Aldredge and later with the rise of cable, TV became the lifeblood of pro sports. Not just that, but even how sports was presented changed. One amazing ponit MacCambridge brought up: in 1970s, broadcasts rarely bothered to set the stage of any bigger narrative. It was just "here's the game." The networks fell into a narrative in Game 7 on the NBA finals with Willis Reed dramatically walking onto the court just as the announcers pondered if he'd be in the game. Safe to say, the sports media would learn the art of narrative building and how that enhanced the overall drama.

Maybe the biggest theme of the book is the rise of women's sports. This is some of the interesting and also obscure parts. Sure there's Billie Jean King and Chris Evert and all the prominent tennis storylines. But have you ever heard of the AIAW? I hadn't it, but there's a lot of it here on this organziation for women's collegiate sports and all the work they did fighting for and defending Title IX. The book's afterward even notes how Billie Jean King helped inspire the 1990s US national team to fight for better treatment.

There is also a theme of race and the role it plays. The 1970 NCAA College Football #1 team (Texas) was the last all-white #1 team. Huh. You get the history of the NBA being "too black" and the fight for black NFL quarterbacks and Hank Aaron's dealing with racists during his quest for #715 and as noted above OJ. You also get the decline of Grambline State as more top black stanet went to non-HBUCs.

Labor relations serve as another theme, with Curt Flood, John Mackey, and Oscar Robertson lauching signal lawsuits as the 1960s became the 1970s. The Messersmeith decision happened in the middle of the decade, and the salary cap in the NBA at the end of the decade, among other highlights.

Plus you get all sorts of various nuggets along the way. For instance, style beomes more important, and Jack Nicklhaus became much more popular when he grew out his hair, dressed in keeping with the times and lost weight. The NBA adopted the three-point shot in part to open up the game to reduce the on-court violence that typified the late 1970s game. MacCambridge traces the birth of the bracket for March madness.

Really, the entire book is chock full of good stuff. Very strongly recommended.

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The social and cultural history of the 1970s is a fascinating topic to me; perhaps even more than the decade that preceded it, the Seventies changed so much about our country that we had to have a wide-scale conservative reaction to it, ushered in by Reagan, and which is still debated over to this day. Inclusion, integration, representation: all topics that we still haggle over today, they had their heyday in the decade of bell bottoms, disco, and feathered hair. The Seventies weren't all good, of course (no decade ever is, despite the nostalgia-freaks who valorize any decade not the current one), but they saw their share of innovations and breakthroughs. And perhaps the greatest avenue for change came on the fields and in the arenas of America's sports.

"The Big Time," by Michael MacCambridge, is a fun, eye-opening look at the decade that saw the enactment of Title IX, the breaking of barriers for Black and female athletes, and the birth of all-sports cable channels. MacCambridge documents the changes that occurred with anecdotes about both prominent figures of the era (most notably Billie Jean King, as well as Henry Aaron, Jack Nicklaus, and Dr. J) and little-known figures from the struggles over women's sports, labor relations, and television and print journalism. The through line is that the epic struggles for equal rights didn't end when the clock struck midnight on December 31, 1969 or on January 1, 1980; the legacy of the Seventies was one of constant change, often with pushback from those in power. Even today, in our hyper-attentive world of 24/7 sports, we are living with and benefiting from the gains of that decade (as well as dealing with the fallout from some of the era's less enlightened elements).

MacCambridge's central thesis is the explosion of women's sports and the ways in which women were finally (albeit grudgingly) invited to partake in sports. Title IX was an afterthought of the Nixon Administration, but within a decade it helped to force the hand of the NCAA with regards to funding for college athletes who were female. An entire book could be written about this aspect, or indeed any other that MacCambridge writes about here. But the strength of "The Big Time" is MacCambridge's ability to integrate all the disparate strands of social change into a united effort to document all the ways in which the Seventies changed America. This is cultural history at its best.

"The Big Time" shows how, in the span of ten years, sports in America went from being a (white) boy's club to one more inclusive if not completely equal or open. The changes of that decade are being challenged on a daily basis in our courts and legislatures, by reactionary elements bent on turning back the clock. What Michael MacCambridge does is to remind us of how much progress was made then, and how much still needs to be made. We should listen to that, and this book is not only timely but entertaining as hell.

[Dachokie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was born in 1966, so my childhood was defined by the 70s. When talking to anyone about sports today, it’s hard not to reference what it was like to watch or even play sports back in the 70s. Most people can’t fathom only seeing 2 NFL games on a weekend or that the Super Bowl halftime show was comprised of local high school marching bands.

THE BIG TIME is a wonderful history of the pivotal decade that transformed the world of sports from being a black and white silent movie experience into a hi-def color IMAX extravaganza … literally night vs day.

I found this book to be a trip down memory lane, but also providing so much insight into the significance of things I never knew about or took for granted. It easily illustrates how the sports we see and experience today was provided by the sacrifices, bravery, ingenuity, and visionary athletes, coaches, and entrepreneurs of the 70s. They gave us everything: Title IX, ESPN, NFL weekends, fantasy sports, Nike, free-agency, professional athlete wealth, commercialism and so much more. Pretty much everything you love (or hate) about sports these days, stems from the 1970s.

A fascinating and educational trip through a wild and wide-open decade that celebrates change and building the future of sports. The fight for women to get their due in college and professional sports with Title IX is particularly compelling and is one of the more worthy aspects of this book. Seeing the immense struggle for women to get their just due in sports only to see it being undermined 50 years is eye-opening and truly disappointing.

If you have any affinity for modern history and are even a modest fan of sports, this book should provide a great read.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Times review made it sound like this is basically just a compilation of stuff everyone already knew if you've read in the field, but I think there's a lot more to it, just from the cumulative collage effect of putting all of these changes alongside each other. The big meta-stories are the growth and incorporation, quite literally, of women's sports into the larger sports world, for good and bad, and TV supplanting print as the dominant medium of disseminating sports to fans. So, OK, not necessarily the newest idea, but what moves this beyond being "encyclopedic" in the literal sense of "broad, generic summary" is the wealth of personal detail, whether it's Chuck Noll's wife having to mow the lawn herself while he's off at training camp or the culture of early AIAW meetings and the emphasis on being ladylike that coursed through university athletic departments, even/especially from female administrators, including the dance teacher who ran things at UT and kept calling practice "rehearsal" and uniforms "costumes." Heroes: Billie Jean King, Kareem, Hank Aaron (secretly a Cleveland Browns fan!), Eddie Robinson, Donna Lopiano, Marvin Miller. Villains: Alan Eagleson (shady NHLPA player rep whose machinations cost Bobby Orr millions), Walter Byers (even worse than I personally thought, though the workplace details from inside the NCAA are hilariously/terrifyingly retro), sexist football coaches lobbying to eviscerate or undo Title IX (hey, there, Bo Schembechler!), owners.

[Brian Kolda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it and learned so much I hadn't realized I didn't know. It was fun to relive the events from when I was growing up and becoming a big sports fan. It was also so interesting getting a better understanding of how sports and culture developed from a lot of the things that took place in the '70's.
I especially appreciated the focus on the impact of Title IX and growth of women's sports. While women still have a ways to go and obviously deserve much more opportunity, I feel their sports are definitely making some progress (women's basketball, golf, tennis, and softball). I'm amazed at what women went through to just establish the ability to compete. I hadn't realized the many challenges they faced and this book did such a good job explaining the hurdles and victories.
It was wild to think that when I was playing in the band at Ohio State women's basketball games (they were referred to then as "Lady Buckeyes"!) that it had only been a few years since they were actually brought into the NCAA. I would have said "accepted" into the NCAA, but that is obviously not the case as the book points out.
Their efforts were fought all the way and they have really achieved so much in the face of that. I had no idea, as I sat there playing the fight song when the women took the court, that only a few years before they weren't able to give scholarships or do much more than play like a club sport (vs. a true varsity sport).
Also, I normally don't like the business side of sports, but Mike did such a good job explaining all of the machinations of free agency and labor negotiations that it was actually interesting to me. I would highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in sports, culture, the '70's, women's impact on society, and anyone looking for a truly interesting and fun book. Great job Mike!

[Scott Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Audiobook) Found myself really enjoying this read. I am a big sports fan, so it would figure that I would gravitate towards this work. This covers how transformative the 1970s were to sports, turning it from the classic past time to one of the biggest businesses and money-makers in the world. There is the evolution of racial integration in the sports as well as women finding their way into competitive sports, usually having to fight the establishment to get there. This is a good balance of recounting on-field action and the behind-the-scenes actions that all played their part. Key that the work ended with the rise of ESPN and the sports specific channels. TV probably has done more than anything to impact professional (and college) sports to the status they have now. It is not perfect, but if you want to see when things really changed and how modern sports became what they did, start with this one. The rating is the same regardless of format.

[Jeff Colston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly pretty interesting! It’s amazing how much has changed with sports in such a short period of time. Growing up in the early 2000s, it really is hard for me to grasp how different the sports watching experience was, even as recent as 50 years ago. Just the thought of essentially only one or two games on TV for the entire weekend and nothing during the week. Crazy!

While I appreciate how easy it is to stay up-to-date now, I certainly mourn our modern obsession with entertainment and almost long for the pace of previous times in history: just going to games and keeping up with the newspaper. I was convicted of my own personal obsession while reading. It’s easy to get consumed.

Gained a lot of fun facts. Definitely boring at times (probably better as a documentary), so 3 stars, but I’m glad I read it.

[Andrew Smiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweepingly broad view of how sports - and the US - changed during the 1970s. MacCambridge does a solid job of contextualizing the big social issues - racial and women’s equality movements - without spending pages & pages familiarizing the reader with the background. Either you already know something about the 1970s or you don’t; the focus is on the changes in the world of athletics. And what a set of changes: big steps towards racial equity among players, the creation of a mass market for sport, the influx of TV money, and the range of battles that resulted after the passing of Title IX. It was a fascinating and enjoyable read.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that overall this was a good book. Michael MacCambridge does an excellent job writing about the struggles women's sports had gaining respect, especially from the NCAA, during this time. The stories he tells about the various insults and lawsuits that came as a result of this made for very interesting reading. I do think it came at the expense of the other sports news of the decade. I think he could have written a very good standalone book on that. Doing what he did gave short shrift to the other sports and his tease about the WHA was brutal.

Well worth your time despite some short comings.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mac Cambridge has become one of my favorite writers of sport.

This book captures the world of sports throughout the 1970s, and the dramatic changes that occured in each league, from television to players to owners and more.

The book spends a good amount covering the changes in women's sports in particular, from Billie Jean King's Battle of the Sexes victory, to the NCAA establishment's fights against Title IX.

Muhammad Ali, O.J. Simpson, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, all make appearances, highlighting the changing cultural shift sports would take in the '70s before exploding in the '80s and '90s and up to today.

www.thebrianlennonshow.substack.com

[Ralphz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a nice job recounting the major and minor events of the 1970s that shaped sports going forward. Built on backbone of Title IX, this book remembers key figures, teams and leagues of the era.

From Billie Jean King to Henry Aaron, Ali to Pele to Dr. J, Reggie to Magic to Bird. The WFL, NASL, WHA, ABA and the IVA, the Southern California Sun, Caribou of Colorado, Cleveland Barons, El Paso/Juarez Sol. ESPN and MNF. The mustard-colored football, red-white-and-blue basketball and the navy blue puck, rainbow jerseys and clown pants. It was a confusing decade.

The book also recounts the growth of women's sports, Blacks in the pros, and television everywhere.

You kinda had to be there.

[Jan Dorr Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don’t have to be a sports fan to love this book. MacCambridge dissects the complex network of moving parts in America’s social and political culture that launched spectator sports into the mainstream. The personal stories of athletes like Billie Jean King and Kareem Abdul Jamar keeps the read quite interesting. At times it is very frustrating to read about the struggles women athletes had to endure to get just a small piece of recognition. I have a new admiration for all the women who came before us.

[John Schorg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It makes sense to write about sports in the 1970s, since the scope of change was immense. Thank goodness it was done by a writer who understands that change comes in all forms, from football and baseball and basketball to junky stuff like The Superstars. An exemplary work, especially for someone who came of age in that era.

[norma baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 1960s were a period of division and turmoil. In the 1970s sports fan participation increased and divisions were a product of the devotion of the fans for their particular team. After all, the most important people in sports are the fans and fan zeal increased during the 1970s. TV contracts increased team revenue, marketing and athlete salaries and this book tells us how it happened.

[John Scherer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. A nostalgic survey of sports in the 70s, my childhood. Fun to read again about heroes such as Dr. J, the Big Red Machine, etc. Yet, MacCambridge tackles such issues as the growth of sports, tv, labor relations, racial challenges, and the birth and growth of women's sports. Excellent read.

[Shanereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a huge sports fan. However, I did appreciated passages on the origination of Title IX in sports, when it looks like many of those rights for women are being overturned on a state by state basis.

This finished copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Huge thanks to Grand Central for my review copy!

[Emilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The pacing/structure may not be for everyone because there is a lot of jumping around. A great read for anyone interested in the overlap of sports, history, politics, sociology, and humanities generally! Plus, MacCambridge does a great job of hitting a wide variety of sports, locations, niches, etc…bonus points for how many times I said “omg I’ve been there!”

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fabulous accounting of a seminal decade in American sports history. As a kid growing up in the ‘70s, I witnessed many of the sporting events chronicled in this book — an NBA Finals on tape delay? I stayed up and watched it — but the gender and racial issues that were playing out through the decade went way over my head at the time. I highly recommend.

[Stephen Dittmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child of the 70s and a sport management academic, I found that everything about this book resonated with me. Important history of sport, including how it has impacted the business of sport, is thoroughly and easily explained. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a digestible overview of how we arrived where we are with today’s sport industry.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of my favorite non-fiction books I've read in awhile. Even though I do like sports, I feel like anybody with just a passing knowledge of one league would enjoy this book. Hits on so many major moments in the seventies and how they reverberate to this day. Fascinating!

[Shawn Gallagher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not what I expected. While providing a good overview of changes to sports in the Seventies, it is an all-encompassing history of the changes in women's sports over that decade and beyond. Very educational and enjoyable.

[Kehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I sometimes felt like cutting between sports in one chapter confused me, overall I learned a ton in this book, and I appreciated the detail about the fight for women’s sports and leadership roles for Black athletes.