Yeoman's in the Fork Blog

Football Is Back! Great Reads for Football Fans

09/10/2010 01:55 PM Posted by: Keith Wallace

Given that $20 Billion dollars is being spent for the rights to air NFL games, I feel I am not in the minority when I say that the National Football League is back and I love it! It is amazing to consider that 28 of the top 50 most watched television shows are NFL games albeit Super Bowl games. Super Bowl Sunday is virtually a national holiday now and is second only to Thanksgiving in the amount of food consumed. Baseball should drop any notion of being the national pastime! No sport compares in popularity, profitability and broad appeal as does the National Football League. Despite the greatness of the NFL and its undeniable power in the business world, it is not bulletproof. All of the momentum gained could come to a skidding halt next year as management and labor could be headed for a lock out. Make no mistake that if this happens, it will have some sort of impact on the league. I personally feel that any negativity will be forgiven when the issues are worked out. We do love our football and most fans will watch the games because it is an addiction fueled by passion. If a lock out does happen, keep in mind that this one is all on management. The players are not complaining about their pay, but despite the owner's in most cases being subsidized by tax dollars, combined with the aforementioned billions in TV revenue, they still cry poverty. Don't believe it.

Sorry if I sounded gloomy for a moment there, but just wanted to get my thoughts out there concerning the immediate future of my favorite sport. Despite those concerns, I am very excited about the season and this year I actually have four fantasy football teams to ponder, worry over and analyze. The greatest time of the year is here! It is once again time for us to gather around the TV for the next 17 weeks hoping to see our favorite team win the Super Bowl. The air is not quite crispy with the fall chill and the leaves are not turning beautiful golden hues, but football is here and so I know it can't be far behind!

If you can find time to read this fall and want something football related, I have a few books that will satisfy the soul.

Mark Yost, Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps: How the NFL Became the Most Successful Sports League in History.

From Booklist

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 is a player’s name invoked, and Yost bypasses any comparisons of the 3-4 defense versus the 4-3. 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.