Fans of the World, Unite!: A (Capitalist) Manifesto for Sports Consumers

Contents
Acknowledgments
1. How Sports Fans Are Exploited
	A Sports Fans’ Manifesto
	The Book, in a Nutshell
	Sports and the Public Trust
	The Inefficient Monopolists
	Can Intervention in the “Free Market” Be Justified?
	Tax Subsidies and Restricted Entry
	Ticket Prices
	Television Blackouts
	Labor Market Restraints
	Operating the Club: Management and Ancillary Sales
	Why Do Fans Put Up With It?
2. Diagnosis and Suggested Cure
	Our Twofold Remedy
	Conflict of Interest Between the League and the Owners
	Recognizing the Conflict: The Commissioner and Regulation of “Integrity” Issues
	Beyond the Commissioner
	Promotion and Relegation
	Holdup and the Need for Enforceable Rules
3. Competitive Balance
	American Values, Foreign Values, and the Concept of “Competitive Balance”
	Historical Origins of Competitive Balance as a Goal of Sports Leagues
	Is Competitive Balance Consistent with American Capitalist Values?
	Actual Evidence Regarding the Appeal of Balanced Competitions
	How Our Proposals Affect Competitive Balance
4. Borrowing from NASCAR: An Independent Competition Organizer
	A Primer on the Economics of “Contest Theory”
	NASCAR’s Origins
	NASCAR’s Development
	Sleeping Dogs: The Absence of NASCAR Restraints on Entry and Labor Competition
	The Exception That Proves the Rule: Selection of Nextel Cup Sites
	A Few Caveats
5. Borrowing from Soccer: Entry by Merit
	Origins of the Structure of a “Closed” League
	Problems with the Closed League Format, and Entry by Merit as a Solution
	How Entry by Merit Works in Soccer
	Origins of Entry by Merit in English Soccer
	Weighing Objections
6. How a Restructured Sports League Would Work
	Setting It Up
	Who Does What?
	The Relationship Between the League and the Clubs
	Introducing Promotion and Relegation tothe Major Leagues
	The Labor Market and Incentives
	TV and Media
	Ticket Prices
	Marketing Initiatives
7. Comparing This Proposal to Other Remedies for Monopoly Power
	The Inadequacy of Antitrust Law to Protect Sports Fans
	Direct Government Regulation
	Break Up the Monopoly League
	Potential Need for Additional Regulation
	Continuing Application of Antitrust Laws to Restructured Sports Entities
8. Half-Loaf, Still-an-Improvement Compromise Suggestions
	The Limits to Voluntary Reform
	The Commission System
	The Commissioner as the “Coasebuster”
	Commissioner as Volunteer Cheerleader
9. Fans, What We Can Imagine!
	The Case of the Frustrated Billionaire
	The Case of the Compromising Monopolist
	The Case of Mayors with Backbone
	The Case of the Fed-Up Commissioner,
	The Case of the Imperialist Media Baron
	The Case of Fans Arising
Notes
Index