Making Sports Work
There are lots of examples where sports isn’t dictated by oligarch whims at everyone else’s expense.
Bananas for All
The Savannah Bananas are a national phenomenon. They have succeeded by putting fans first.
Getting a Share in Green Bay
The only community-owned franchise in America’s major sports leagues is a legacy of football’s past.
Diamonds in the Rough
Novel public ownership models have kept minor league baseball franchises anchored in communities.
Striking Out—and Winning
In 2023, minor league baseball players won a union contract and put an end to decades of exploitation.
Olympic Spirits on ICE
Why would tourists come to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics when Trump is transforming the entire country into a xenophobic danger zone?
Baselines and Picket Lines
Superstar athletes are close to American royalty, but they still have to fight like other workers for fair pay.
How Congress Refused to Save the NCAA From Itself
Colleges want exemptions from antitrust and labor laws, so they can continue to hoard billions in cash from sports and deny the players their rights. So far, they’ve failed.
Circling Sharks
A look inside the athlete-finance industry, which resembles predatory lending—and worse
The Roots of the Youth Sports Gold Rush
Steve Griffin got in on the ground floor with the John D. Rockefeller of youth sports. The climb out of the basement taught him that finance and kids’ sports are a toxic mix.
The Scourge of Online Sports Betting
States and leagues must face up to the damage from app-based gambling for the next generation of bettors, most of them young men.
Behind the Bleachers
The business of sports looks a lot like the rest of our unequal, excessively financialized economy.
