The sports sector is a vitally important component of the economy in many countries. Sports are commonly used as a catalyst for urban regeneration, particularly in relation to the hosting of major sporting events such as the Olympics and World Cup tournaments. Many governments have used sport for example as a means for promoting policies on health and crime. In financial terms, the commercial importance of sport has increased dramatically in recent times: TV rights for major sporting events such as the Olympics and Premier League football in England have broken the £1bn barrier and globally sport accounts for around 50% of sponsorship activity.

Sport also offers a fertile area for laboratory-style testing in the economics discipline. For example where else is it possible to measure individual pay and performance, evaluate the contribution of the manager, test the invariance proposition, analyse the impact of player restraints (e.g. salary caps, restrictions on player trades), understand the behaviour of cartels and the effects of monopsony power in one single industry?

This book aims to analyse the economics of professional sports at a more intermediate-advanced level with a greater emphasis on popular international sports than the existing texts. There will also be more direct integration of the academic literature into the book through the use of case studies.