Money and Football - by Stefan Szymanski (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Modern soccer is big business. From the ill-received takeover of Manchester United by the Glazer family to Paris Saint Germain's current shopping spree for the best footballers on the planet, soccer finance has become an increasingly important part of the game.
Barely a summer goes by now without a cherished club going into administration or a wealthy businessman funding a mid table team's ascension to Champions League competitor. Meanwhile, the twice-annual multi-million dollar merry-go-round of transfer season sees players (and now managers) signed for sums thought impossible just a decade ago. Understanding soccer finance has become essential for comprehending the beautiful game. But for many fans, soccer finance remains, frustratingly, a world that is opaque and difficult to grasp.
Stefan Szymanski, co-author of the bestselling Soccernomics, tackles every soccer fan's burning questions in Money and Soccer: A Soccernomics Guide. From the abolition of the maximum wage in the 1960s, through to the impact of TV money both at home and abroad in the 1990s and 2000s, Szymanski explains how money, or lack of, affects your favorite club. Drawing on extensive research into financial records dating back to the 1970s, Szymanski provides clear analysis of the way that clubs have transformed in the modern era.
This book isn't limited to European clubs. Szymanski, a renowned expert on sports management and economics, looks at what we can learn from comparing the ascension of Europe's biggest clubs to their lofty perches and with new financial models across the world. Through careful research and informative stories drawn from around the globe, Szymanski provides an accessible guide to the world of soccer finance.

Review Quotes

"I regard Stefan Szymanski as a trusted and smart thinker on the soccer business. This is fast-moving industry, and he's one of the best guides to it." --Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A's

"Stefan is a sports historian and fellow economist with a deep knowledge of the game and its trends. His analysis and data is profound and this very comprehensive book gives a true insight into the continued success of the biggest clubs like 'blue chip' stocks and the never-ending pursuit of glory by the minnows and the chances of David beating Goliath. The book illustrates why football continues to be the world's most popular participant and spectator sport attracting the world's richest men and armies of devoted followers." --Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA)

"Soccer finance has become an increasingly important part of the beautiful game. But for many fans, it remains, frustratingly, a world that is opaque and difficult to grasp. Here, Stefan Szymanski tackles every soccer fan's most burning questions with clarity and fun and pure brilliance." --John Henry, Principal Owner, Fenway Sports Group - parent company of Liverpool FC and the Boston Red Sox

About the Author

Stefan Szymanski is the Stephen J. Galetti Collegiate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology. Tim Harford has called him "one of the world's leading sports economists." He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.