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Fast Tracks and Dark Deals: How Sport Became Business and Business Became Sport
The autobiography of one of the last standing insiders, '
Fast Tracks and Dark Deals
', is a surgical dissection of the business of sport and its evolution over the past fifty years from a cottage industry to a trillion-dollar business.
Fast-paced and edgy, it profiles the characters and events that gave birth to the sports biz.
Along the way, readers encounter dazzling highs and sobering lows, as wars, scandals, and economic crises threaten to pull the whole spectacle apart.
The story is told from a seat close enough to hear the whispers in the corridor yet distant enough to see the broader patterns, the fragile alliances, the unexpected friendships, and the bold ideas that reshaped global sport.
' Fast Tracks and Dark Deals ' offers unique business insights from someone who was a major player in many of them, who knew everyone and has been everywhere in the labyrinth of world sport, even its dark corners.
The final part provides a telling and perhaps unsettling prediction for the next fifty years.
Forewords from
Dr Thomas Bach, IOC President, and Bernie Ecclestone, F1 Supremo.
Fast-paced and edgy, it profiles the characters and events that gave birth to the sports biz.
Along the way, readers encounter dazzling highs and sobering lows, as wars, scandals, and economic crises threaten to pull the whole spectacle apart.
The story is told from a seat close enough to hear the whispers in the corridor yet distant enough to see the broader patterns, the fragile alliances, the unexpected friendships, and the bold ideas that reshaped global sport.
' Fast Tracks and Dark Deals ' offers unique business insights from someone who was a major player in many of them, who knew everyone and has been everywhere in the labyrinth of world sport, even its dark corners.
The final part provides a telling and perhaps unsettling prediction for the next fifty years.
Forewords from
Dr Thomas Bach, IOC President, and Bernie Ecclestone, F1 Supremo.
652 pages, Hardcover
Published November 17, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 10, 2026
Michael Payne had a front-row seat at (and indeed played a significant role in) the monumental changes that have happened within the sporting world over the last 50 years, especially the relationships of global sports like the Olympics and F1 with business, politics, viewers, and fans.
I knew some of his inside stories (such as the incredible network bidding dramas of the Olympics in the 1980s) from his earlier book Olympic Turnaround, but I can fully recommend reading this as well, as it contains a new cornucopia of amazing details from incredibly high-stakes standoffs, deals, bluffs, partnerships, and extreme rivalries in the world of sports. More than just a collection of anecdotes, Payne stitches everything into a highly readable and entertaining narrative, despite the length of the book. It also features a powerful closing chapter looking into what the future may bring.
I also really appreciated that, despite being a book about commercialism (and sometimes of the most cut-throat kind), it never forgets the human stories at the heart of sport... this is why people tune in, and everyone looking to make commercial gain does well to remember to protect their golden goose. I can recommend this for anyone interested in or already involved with sports, politics, or business.
I knew some of his inside stories (such as the incredible network bidding dramas of the Olympics in the 1980s) from his earlier book Olympic Turnaround, but I can fully recommend reading this as well, as it contains a new cornucopia of amazing details from incredibly high-stakes standoffs, deals, bluffs, partnerships, and extreme rivalries in the world of sports. More than just a collection of anecdotes, Payne stitches everything into a highly readable and entertaining narrative, despite the length of the book. It also features a powerful closing chapter looking into what the future may bring.
I also really appreciated that, despite being a book about commercialism (and sometimes of the most cut-throat kind), it never forgets the human stories at the heart of sport... this is why people tune in, and everyone looking to make commercial gain does well to remember to protect their golden goose. I can recommend this for anyone interested in or already involved with sports, politics, or business.
March 16, 2026
Michael is a storyteller of the highest quality. He takes you on a journey behind the most interesting and pivotal moments in modern Olympic history.
The dynamics of bidding, deal making across sponsorship, media rights, and other topics, the leadership styles of the different IOC Presidents, IOC members, and even his time at F1.
Highly recommend to anyone interested in sponsorship, sports business, Olympic world!
The dynamics of bidding, deal making across sponsorship, media rights, and other topics, the leadership styles of the different IOC Presidents, IOC members, and even his time at F1.
Highly recommend to anyone interested in sponsorship, sports business, Olympic world!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews