Booklist Review

The National Football League generates tremendous profits for all its team owners. It didn't happen overnight, and it wasn't the result of serendipity. Yost, who covers the business of sports for the Wall Street Journal, offers a fascinating financial history of the league from its threadbare early years through the dark days of independently negotiated television contracts to the share-the-wealth concept championed by late commissioner Pete Rozelle, who may be the one individual most responsible for the sporting behemoth that occupies our autumns. Yost covers the battles over merchandising rights for NFL-licensed products, the successful courting of female fans, and the league's attempts to capitalize on the fantasy-football phenomenon. Nary a player's name is invoked, and Yost bypasses any comparisons of the three-four defense versus the four-three. This is about all the money the NFL makes and how it does it, and as such, it will fascinate virtually any NFL watcher as well as the folks with pocket protectors and an affinity for spreadsheets. --Wes Lukowsky Copyright 2006 Booklist