A book about the business of youth sports

It has been months since the last post. I've been writing (and writing). Just not here. I'm pleased to say that the official publication date for The Most Expensive Game in Town was yesterday. It's a book on an important subject - the commercialization of sports for kids. I hope it will spur discussion and debate, maybe even modest change.

There will be reviews and interviews over the next few weeks. I'll post a few here. If you'd like to be kept in the loop about more book stuff, I hope you'll "like" the book page on Facebook.

Doug Glanville, the former major-league-baseball-player-turned author and essayist, has written a thoughtful piece about what's lost when youth sports becomes as crass a business as every other crass business, and about the book. This article posted to the Time Magazine Ideas Web site today.

Thanks to all those who inquired where I've been and when I was going to get my lazy butt back to work on the blog.

New comedy genre, pushy youth sports parents

I fear there will be kindergarteners hanging from rims all over the country.

Thanks Ben Hyman.

The high school stadium with the corporate name

Interesting read in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette about banks and other financial institutions spending big bucks to slap their corporate logos on high school sports venues. The article cites a local deal in which Commerce Bank & Trust bid $1 million for naming rights at Foley Stadium high school field, now "Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium."

It's easy to decry this as a distressing escalation in the commercialization and professionalization of sports for kids, which it clearly is. But at least the local bank is writing a big check to the school system.

Compare that to the fee schedule over at ESPN. The sports net has been telecasting high school football games going back 20 years. In 2002 ESPN carried possibly the most-watched high school basketball game of all time: the national TV debut of LeBron James while he was still a high school junior. More recently ESPN has made a major push into prep coverage. In 2007, ESPN2 and ESPNU aired 19 high school football games from 15 different states.

For an article in the Sports Business Journal, I interviewed administrators at two Maryland schools - Good Counsel and DeMatha - that had recently played a football game on ESPN. I asked about the payday. Each school received $1,000.

What would Jack LaLanne say?

Another installment in our series, "Least Essential Youth Sports Products of 2009."

Watching this, I kept wondering: What would Jack LaLanne say?

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What every kid player doesn't need

My early nomination for "Least Essential Youth Sports Product of the Year." (And judging from the faux smiles plastered on their faces, I'd say Sparky Lyle and Roy White agree). Yours for $19.95.

Notice how the kid drops a pristine white ball on the ground and that the one he picks up looks like it was last thrown by Burleigh Grimes.

Kid athletes and the art of the sell

I've made a career - I'm trying, at least - of calling attention to and then lamenting the commercialization of youth sports. The Little League World Series contributes $16 million to the Pennsylvania economy each year and attracts TV ratings higher than many pro sports. One of ESPN2’s highest rated programs on record - second only to coverage of Dale Earnhardt's death - was the net's first telecast of Lebron James as a high school basketball player. On and on.

I'm not expecting to hold back the flood gates of commercialism. But from time to time I will be pointing out examples of youth sports transformed (and reduced) to selling and marketing a product. This ad promotes a noble purpose - Britain's Child Trust Fund. And it's pretty hilarious - six views and I'm still smiling. Still, it's an instance of an ad campaign built around a kid in a sports uniform breaking into the pro ranks.