Soccernomics: Why England Loses, Why Spain, Germany, and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia and Even Iraq Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport

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PublicAffairs, Apr 22, 2014 - Sports & Recreation - 464 pages
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

Named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by Guardian, Slate, Financial Times, Independent (UK), and Bloomberg News

Soccernomics pioneers a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous, empirical analysis and incisive, witty commentary. The San Francisco Chronicle describes it as “the most intelligent book ever written about soccer.” This World Cup edition features new material, including a provocative examination of how soccer clubs might actually start making profits, why that's undesirable, and how soccer's never had it so good.
 

Contents

In Search of New Truths About Soccer
1
THE CLUBS
11
How to Avoid Silly Mistakes in the Transfer Market
13
Why Soccer Clubs Dont and Shouldnt Make Money
49
Why Soccer Clubs Almost Never Disappear
72
Why Financial Fair Play Is Bad for Soccer
84
Does English Soccer Discriminate Against Black People?
95
7 Do Coaches Matter? The Cult of the White Manager
111
Do People Jump Off Buildings When Their Teams Lose?
260
Why Hosting a World Cup Is Good for You
273
COUNTRIES
297
16 Why England Loses and Others Win
299
Why Poor Countries Are Poor at Sports
343
The Best Little Soccer Country on Earth
361
The Rise of Spain and the Triumph of European Knowledge Networks
376
The Future Map of Global Soccer
391

Are Penalties Cosmically Unfair or Only If You Are Nicolas Anelka?
131
How Match Data Are Changing the Game on the Field
150
City Sizes and Soccer Prizes
172
11 Football Versus Football
194
THE FANS
217
12 The Country That Loves Soccer Most
219
13 Are Soccer Fans Polygamists? A Critique of the Nick Hornby Model of Fandom
242
The Best of Times
409
Acknowledgments
415
Note from the Authors
417
Select Bibliography
421
Index
427
Copyright

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About the author (2014)

Simon Kuper is one of the world's leading writers on soccer. The winner of the William Hill Prize for sports book of the year in Britain, Kuper writes a weekly column for the Financial Times. He lives in Paris, France. Stefan Szymanski is the Stephen J. Galetti Collegiate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Michigan's School of Kinesiology Tim Harford has called him “one of the world's leading sports economists.” He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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