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David J. Berri and Martin B. Schmidt FT Press, 2010.
3.5 / 5.0
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| 2.0 / 5.0 |
I decided to review these books together since Stumbling on Wins and other books in the sports economics genre are being published on the coattails of Moneyball's success.
Before I read SoW, I would have characterized Moneyball as an economics book with a few stories thrown in. After finding SoW wears that mantle perfectly, I began to see what makes Moneyball a different and much better read.
Professional sports are about money. This is not really news and it is not surprising when both books admit this up front. What is startling and what the two books reveal is that the people holding that money make decisions based on almost anything but solid, economic logic. SoW covers or I should say, uncovers the NBA, NFL, NHL and NCAA. (It also has a short chapter on MLB which is basically a summary of Michael Lewis' Moneyball). Lewis' book focuses on Major League Baseball and specifically the Oakland A's. Both books explore the inefficiencies of professional sports. How they do it, though, makes all the difference.
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