This collection shows how big-time sports has outgrown its role as a simple pastime. Fueled by fans' rising disposable incomes and the promise of jobs and local economic development, professional and major college sports have evolved into a multibillion-dollar economic sector that produces winners and losers both on and off the field. The contributors to this book show how a host of contemporary economic issues come into play in today's world of sports. These issues include industrial organization, influences on labor markets, monopsony power, the behavior of cartels, local economic development policies, and price discrimination.