Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love

by Dave Zirin

A THOUGHT-PROVOKING LOOK AT THE BIG BUSINESS AND IMMORAL PRACTICES BEHIND PROFESSIONAL SPORTS BY ACCLAIMED SPORTSWRITER DAVE ZIRIN, HAILED AS THE “CONSCIENCE OF AMERICAN SPORTSWRITING” ( THE WASHINGTON POST )

The fastest-growing sector of today’s sports audience is the alienated fan. Complaints from inflated ticket prices, $6 hot dogs, and $9 beers to owners endlessly demanding new multimillion-dollar stadiums funded by public tax dollars. Those sitting in the owners’ boxes are increasingly placing profit over players’ performances and fan loyalty. Bad Sports cuts through the hype and bombast to zero in on tales of abusive, dictatorial owners who move their teams thousands of miles away from their fan base, use their stadiums as religious and political platforms, or hold communities ransom for millions of dollars of taxpayer money to fund their gargantuan stadiums.

As the multibillion-dollar sports-industrial complex continues to lumber along, Dave Zirin is the voice in the wilderness, speaking out for the common fan with a tough, passionate, and intelligent voice that will remind readers that there is more to sportswriting than glowing athlete profiles.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Baseball

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Named of the UTNE Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World”, Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for the Nation Magazine. He is their first sports writer in 150 years of existence. Zirin is also the host of Sirius XM Radio’s popular weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. He has been called “the best sportswriter in the United States,” by Robert Lipsyte. Dave Zirin is, in addition, a columnist for SLAM Magazine and the Progressive.
[from http://www.edgeofsports.com/bio.html]

Reviews

[Jerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's nothing more than his personal rant about publically funded stadia. I hope he felt better after writing it.

[furious · Rating 5 out of 5]

a very thorough examination of many, many ways money is ruining sports. in particular, the unchecked greed of owners & the willingness of local governments to fuck their constituents to ensure those owners don't have to pay taxes or go out of pocket for things like operating expenses. like most good journalism, it's sad & depressing.

[Michael Abbattista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is entertaining and infuriating at the same time. I recommend it to anyone whose blood pressure rises at any mention of PSLs, ridiculous ticket prices and empty seats at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

[Byram · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a sports writer for such publications as "The Nation," it should be no surprise that Mr. Zirin has a liberal and progressive bent when it comes to the subject of wealthy-beyond-belief professional sports owners. But you'd also be remiss to think that makes him a Cassandra on the subject, either...

The thesis is explicated well and in a very clear and entertaining fashion, and operates on a simple premise: private professional sports ownership in the United States if ruining the games we love. He goes on to provide ample examples of this happening, and for a variety of reasons. Most of it comes down to what he charitably calls the privitization of profit and the socialization of risk/cost that has stuffed the coffers of the few while punishing the collective of the city and the municipalities, but significant energy is spent on issues such as extorting stadiums out of municipalities when the billionaire owners could fund it on their own, the minimal input of fans (and sometimes even managers!) into the way the sports teams are run, the minimal investment into the community, the tendencies to pick up and move and abandon entire sport markets (the removal of the SuperSonics from Seattle gets Zirin's especial scorn), as well as the politicization and Christian conversion politics of many sports owners (such as Faith Days in baseball, most notoriously the Colorado Rockies). He does hold up one shining example of the way a professional team can be run, obviously a team near and dear to my heart.

Again, you can throw around political bias and rhetoric all you want. But for anybody on the spectrum of casual hometown fan to die-hard fanatic, can anybody make a compelling argument for the way most owners and league operators treat their sports teams and their fans? Is the extortion and proselytization and ability to get rich off of the taxpayers' backs truly a defensible position. Zirin would argue no, it isn't. And I would agree wholeheartedly.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is a bit dated, it is interesting to read in light of current events in the sporting world …. I’m looking at you Dan Snyder and Merritt Paulson. I imagine Zirin kicking back in his armchair shouting “I told you so!”

I’m looking forward to reading more of Zirin’s works, I like his style. Bad Sports gets a bit redundant but that is a fault of Zirin’s subject matter —- all these white, rich owners look the same to me.

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

reads like a collection of blog posts.

[Adam Leader-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Dave Zirin's columns, and his dedication to injecting radical political analysis into the coverage of sports. I was more interested in reading What's My Name, Fool? or A People's History of Sports, but read this one instead when I found that this was the only book by Zirin the UMass library had available at the moment.

Ultimately, I found it disappointing. The book reads like a collection of columns, even though it isn't. While the stories Zirin spins about owners like Donald Sterling, George Steinbrenner, James Dolan, Clay Bennett, and more might be unfamiliar to those who only watch scoreboards and not headlines, as someone who follows the behind the scenes of sports, I was disappointed that Zirin added almost nothing new to the stories he tells, and often covers them in significantly less depth than other sources. In fact, he spends so much of the book discussing the way public money is being used to finance sports stadiums that it made me wonder why I wasn't reading Field of Schemes instead.

Zirin does bring up an important question: to what degree should sports teams belong to the communities they're a part of, versus often craven, profit-seeking owners who would happily extort those communities or ditch them entirely? If he had approached the book much more strongly from that perspective, it would have been much more interesting, rather than reading him make tired jokes about Eddy Curry that Bill Simmons told better years ago.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a liberal or a sports fan (or both like me) you really need to read this book. What is wrong with America when nearly bankrupt cities with crumbling infrastructure pay millions to build stadiums and arenas for teams owned by billionaires? How and why has the religious right taken over the ballpark, a place where once people of greatly varied backgrounds could find common ground for a few hours? Though he also faults the sycophantic media and cowardly (and often bought and paid for) politicians, author Dave Zirin places the bulk of the blame for these and other problems on egotistical, greedy, and often obscenely rich owners of professional sports franchises.

This is not a book written by some left wing anti-sports guy. Zirin loves sports and is angry at what is currently happening to pro sports. And who can blame him? But don't get me wrong, this is not always an angry book. Much of it is hilarious. As Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have proven, humor is often the best weapon against the powerful and Zirin uses humor to drive his points home. This book had me laughing out loud at some points and very angry at others. Very good read.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first argument:

billionaire sports team owners are a venal and greedy lot using public money for stadiums to line their own pockets and squeezing fans for ever more money while degrading the games and the cities they are in; that public money for sports teams under the current system do not lead to increased economic activity or good jobs.

The evidence:

Profiles of various owners and their dirty doings, leaving the reader feeling a little dirty by proxy.

The second argument:

If public money is used for private sports teams, the public should have an ownership stake in the team and be represented on the boards or governing structures; that accountability and stipulations for the public good be included in any deal.

Conclusion:

We'll have to organize and fight for it or to stop public give-aways.

From 2010, some of this is a little dated (Sterling is gone from the NBA ownership ranks, for instance) and Zirin often tries for a slam-dunk metaphor or colorful comparison only to stuff it against the bottom of the rim, but this is still an essential read for those who care.

[Eddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding book by Dave Zirin. It follows other great books like A People's History of Sports. The title says it all. Sports franchise owners are destroying the greatness that was professional sport in the US (and in Liverpool a fightback has taken place). The bottom line is paramount and the game is less so. The book shows how owners have sold off great players for cheaper stars, raised ticket prices and sell $8.00 be3er at the various stadiums and arenas. As if that wasn't enough, the owners are huge donors to all sorts of right-wing evangelical movements; they even have faith nights at taxpayer supported venues, strictly against league the separation of church and state. The best franchise is the Green Bay Packers where the community owns the team and all profits is given back to the community to fund schools, health-care, etc. They are so successful that the NFL wrote into its bylaws that no franchise can go the way of the Packers. The book is well-written and humorous in places.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first book by Zirin. I have a feeling I would like some of his others more than this, though. If you're already familiar with Donald Sterling, Dan Snyder, James Dolan, and all the other similar horrible humans who own sports teams than you don't really need this book. Nothing new is brought to light. Those guys are in fact horrible humans. I agree with Zirin's assessment here (although he does seem to contradict himself occasionally) - but I just don't need to read about it. I already despise paying $10 for a crap beer while I sit in a seat that was extremely overpriced so that I can watch a sport/game I love - why do I need to read about it during my free time? Zirin offers no real legitimate response or next step forward for progressive thinking fans. His outro looks toward Green Bay. However, fter outlining why/how that organization is successful as a business and responsible to its fan base he goes on to explain that this is unrepeatable in the NFL, NBA, NHL, etc. Great.

[John Gueltzow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more than I did. I think I just wanted more.

I agree with his thoughts about publicly-funded stadiums and I'm definitely sympathetic about the potential advantages to public ownership of local teams, but I still want more.

Maybe it's just time for an update. This book is now fairly dated (Donald Sterling DID end up losing his team), and I'm sure there are all sorts of new stories. Seattle might get an NBA expansion team by giving in on a new arena and doing exactly the thing they said they wouldn't. That would be something worth spending a few pages on in the future.

It's a little disjointed at times and even as a sympathetic reader, I found the style difficult to endure.

In the end, it's a decent primer for the way American sports owners see teams as their own little fiefdoms and run them with an embarrassing lack of criticism from the average fan or oversight from leagues. Worth the time if you're at all interested in the contemporary management and economics of American sport.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book should be read by all sports fans but with a grain of salt the size of Montana. Zirin makes a lot of good points about how owners have hampered the sports that we all love. I particularly enjoyed his chapter on Liverpool and the loathsome Tom Hicks (who gives American soccer fans a bad rap). Nevertheless, the author makes way too many leaps based on shaky evidence or goes to far to justify a point that backs his political leanings. Not that I am opposed to what he believes but he lets his judgment get clouded often. For instance, one thing he doesn't mention at all about the reconstruction of the Super Dome is that it was heavily, heavily insured and all of that money was put back into it. Again, he makes great points and it would help for sports fans to have some light shed on the owners' collective greed (especially considering the pending NFL lockout). But because he takes too many liberties, I really can't rate this more than a 3 (more like a 3.5).

[Gordon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will amuse everyone that is sick to death of the cult of owners that allows them to inflict their greed and beliefs on all of us. Why can they use their parks that they have soaked their cities for to showcase their religion and political positions? If they continue to ask for money to build their palaces, shouldn't they have the common decency to reflect their communities and not themselves. This expose will show how bad owners are and how committed we are to supporting their arrogance and their mistakes. An ugly, but honest book. Some great sarcastic moments like his description of Snyder the Redskins owner as a racist dwarf with no ability to run a major league franchise. Why are idiots like Donald Sterling allowed to run basketball teams into the ground? Why do we listen to what they say every day on ESPN? What happened to coaches and players?

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw this on the shelf, I expected to love this book. The subject alone promises volumes worth of material. Instead it left me cold.

I'm on board with public financing of stadiums being a poor investment for taxpayers. But, to suggest that such financing should give the government the right to assert eminent domain against the teams when the owner wants to do something you don't like is preposterous.

Also, after decrying the evils of publicly-funded stadiums, he then proceeded to ensure you understood how miserable the experience is at the Redskins' FedEx Field. He fails to mention that stadium was financed by the owner. Can't have it both ways.

Overall, it's worth the read, but if you can't stand reading a very hard Left perspective on the topic, stay away.

[Devin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Zirin goes above and beyond what many sports writers cover. Instead of focusing solely on the stat box, he examines the causes behind the glimmer and glammer of professional sports. He does not hold his punches; he will call out any group involved in the continued fleecing of the American public in the name of profits. In his easy-to-read, humorous yet factual style, he lays out the case against greedy American sports owners, and their plans to steal even more money from the general public, sports fans and sports haters alike. Even if you have never seen a second of a sports game, in public or on television, you need to know how your tax dollars are being spent: on, as Zirin calls them, "welfare houses for the rich."

[Mary McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is owned by two of the most venal, odious people ever to walk the earth, this book was just the balm my injured sense of decency and justice needed.

It was also somehow comforting to realize that there are owners out there just as bad as Frank and Jamie McCourt. Dick DeVos, Donald Sterling, and James Dolan, to name a few.

Zirin is prone to be a little didactic and flamboyant with his metaphors; however, there's really not another sportswriter like him out there. He's like Howard Zinn with a rally towel and an over-sized foam finger.

[Phil Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zirin is pretty far on the left but that hardly stopped me from enjoying the book. His central premise is a sound one: billionaire owners are extracting huge sums from already tight public coffers rather than spending their own money on stadiums. More teams ought to be publicly owned. He's also not a fan of owners' use of their stadiums as political and religious forums.

It's hard to disagree with this.

At the same time, the book seems a bit like a polemic sans pragmatic steps that we the public can take.

[Natan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an awful book. That isn't to say the author doesn't have some good points. I would even recommend the first and last chapters. Unfortunately, besides that, the book is just one mud-slinging chapter after another, where the author targets specific team owners and describes how their various actions, ideologies and political leanings differ from his own. Naturally, all the owners' ideas and morals are totally flawed.
This isn't really a book about sports. It's about Dave Zirin, and all the people described in the book are merely used to convey his opinions.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sports team owners are generally a bunch of creeps who regularly extort as much money as possible from their host cities while abusing the fans who show up at the games by making them pay eight bucks for a plastic bottle of Coors Light. This book profiles the worst of the worst: Don Sterling (Clippers), Charles Dolan (Knicks), Dan Snyder (Redskins) and Peter Angelos (Orioles). Commissioners don't get spared either, especially Gary Bettman and David Stern.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A interesting and fairly fast read. Zirin pretty much takes to task the worst owners in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. He also points out how city's and municipalities will bend over backwards to finance stadiums and arenas for some of these very same owners. Zirin also brings up the idea of community ownership of pro sports teams such as how the Green Bay Packers are owned and operated but really doesn't go far enough in making his case.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great summary about how the owners of our sports teams use our allegiances to build tax-payer funded stadiums, preach their religious and political message to a captive audience, and proverbially take their ball and go home when they don't get there way. Overall it's a charge to us fans to fight the hard fight to have a more active roll in what rightly belongs to us as those in Green Bay were able to do.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who's come to Zirin through more recent work, this book is interesting because it contains much of what he does best but also demonstrates ways in which he has advanced as a writer and thinker since the time of writing (2015 Zirin has a much better take on issues around sex work and mental health than the way they're referred to here).

[Gary Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for those sports fans out there. I am one of those that could name the starting lineup of every baseball team in about 1962. Now i do not know any starting lineup, and don't care because it will change next week anyway. All our states and cities should pass laws to own their teams. All professional sports included.

[Stan Lanier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful argument for making major league sports in the US of A public utilities. This is especially the case when the debt is collectivized and the profit privatized. Non-sports fans would find these musings about the political economy of big time sports of interest.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful combination of two of my passions --progressive politics and sports. Zivin's snarky, sarcastic humor makes it even more fun.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome... I'm quoted on page 5! woot! It's true... I won't pay for beer at ballgames.

[Jack Goodstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Radical look at sports owwnership and how millionaire owners are ruing the games Americans love. Full review will be on Blogcritics soon.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, but if you are a true sports fan be sure to take your blood pressure meds before reading.

[Judi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I now hate virtually every owner of a major league sports team. With good reason.