The NFL is the world’s biggest sports league in revenue terms and there seems to be no stopping its growth. In Every Day Is Sunday, Ken Belson, a New York Times reporter who covers the business of sport, examines how the league reached its present state, and what might come next.
He attributes the current boom to three men in particular: Jerry Jones, who became Cowboys owner in 1989, Robert Kraft, who bought the Patriots in 1994, Roger Goodell, the NFL’s Commissioner since 2006. The three men have taken a league that was already mind-bogglingly successful and driven it to new heights through increased sponsorship deals, international expansion and moves into sectors such as gambling.
Along the way they have been significant challenges to navigate. Belson digs into the concussion crisis, labour unrest and scandals involving figures like former Washington owner Dan Snyder. He concludes with the questions the NFL must resolve, such as the fragmentation of the media landscape (it would cost a fan more than $1,000 per year in subscriptions to watch every NFL game), and the difficulty of increasing profits in an arguably saturated market.
The book follows nicely from Mark Leibovich’s Big Game (2018), which focuses slightly more on the NFL’s cultural impact, and from Michael Oriard’s Brand NFL (2007), which describes how the league laid the groundwork for the boom that Belson covers. We’ve have come a long way from David Harris’s The League (1986), which viewed the NFL as a declining power. Forty years on, there is still no sign of decline.
THE AUTHOR
Ken Belson is a New York Times journalist who has covered sport and business over a career spanning more than two decades. Every Day Is Sunday is his first book.
REVIEWS
It’s easy to make the case that the NFL is as interesting off the field as it is on it, and this book shows why. Compelling and thorough, Every Day Is Sunday is meticulously researched and Belson easily balances the big picture growth of the league with the colourful, and often funny, quirks of the individuals driving it. Highly recommended if you’re curious about the business side of the NFL. You won’t be bored.
Shane Richmond, Pigskin Books
“Alongside user-friendly financial reporting, Belson shares funny anecdotes about owner pettiness, vanity, and arrogance. A knowledgeable, entertaining account of a sport’s seemingly unstoppable growth.”
Kirkus Reviews
“There are no heroes in this book. While the NFL monetizes its product exceptionally well—it generated $23 billion in revenue last year—its greatest accomplishment seems to be averting crises that could derail the entire enterprise.”
James S Hirsch, Wall Street Journal
“Belson adeptly analyzes controversies during Goodell’s tenure, including a class action lawsuit from thousands of players alleging the NFL lied about the risks of repeated hits to the head. He skewers the league’s response, writing that the NFL was “at its most bloodless, sidestepping a major controversy by throwing money at the problem.” This eye-opening report bares all.”
Publishers Weekly
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