{"product_id":"players-how-sports-became-a-business-paperback","title":"Players: How Sports Became a Business - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMatthew Futterman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Provocative...terrific stories\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e) of the people who transformed sports--in the span of a single generation--from a job that required even top athletes to work in the off-season to make ends meet into a massive global business.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIt started, as most business deals do, with a handshake. In 1960, a Cleveland lawyer named Mark McCormack convinced a golfer named Arnold Palmer to sign with him. McCormack simply believed that the best athletes had more commercial value than they were being paid for--and he was right. Within a few years, he raised Palmer's annual income from $5,000 to $500,000, and forever changed the landscape of the sports industry, transforming it from a form of entertainment to a profitable and fully functioning system of its own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A remarkable saga...filled with insights not only into sports, but also into human nature\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Dallas Morning News\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003ePlayers \u003c\/i\u003efeatures landmark moments, including the multiyear battle to free Palmer from a bad deal with the Wilson Sporting Goods Company; the 1973 Wimbledon boycott, when eighty-one of the top tennis players in the world protested the suspension of Nikola Pilic; baseball pitcher Catfish Hunter's battle to become MLB's first free agent; and how NFL executives transformed pro football from a commercial dud to the greatest show on earth. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An entertaining, illuminating read\" (\u003ci\u003eNew York Journal of Books\u003c\/i\u003e), \u003ci\u003ePlayers \u003c\/i\u003eis a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of the rise and creation of the modern sports world, and the people who made it happen. \"No part of the media and entertainment industry has seen a more substantial economic transformation than sports....A half-century tour spanning a variety of widely recognized and lesser-known sports figures and competitions that have played roles in the industry's development....\u003ci\u003ePlayers\u003c\/i\u003e could not be more timely\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e).\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.3 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 18, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53463933550899,"sku":"9781476716961","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0990\/0746\/3731\/files\/g-RvZWRo989781476716961.webp?v=1781571557","url":"https:\/\/rbangel-store.myshopify.com\/products\/players-how-sports-became-a-business-paperback","provider":"The Celestial Starlit Phoenix ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}