Andrew Zimbalist


Biography

Andrew Zimbalist is a Professor of Economics at Smith College specializing in the economics of sports.

He has also been a visiting professor at Doshisha University, the University of Geneva, and Hamburg University.

Zimbalist has consulted for numerous governments & professional sports teams and organizations.

You can find his latest books here & here.


Interviews

 
 
 
 

Education

PhD, Harvard University

MA, Harvard University

BA, University of Wisconsin

Institutions

President-elect, Drake Group (July 1, 2020 - July 30, 2022)

Professor of Economics, Smith College (1974 - present)

Visiting Professor, Hamburg University (2011)

Visiting Professor, Doshisha University (2007)

Visiting Professor, University of Geneva (2003)

Chair, Latin American Scholars’ Association’s Task Force on Scholarly Relations with Cuba (1992-94)

Visiting Research Fellow, Harvard University (1980)

Research Fellow, University of Chile (1972 - 1973)

Fields

Economics of Sports

Topics

The Economics of Hosting the Olympics

The Efficiency of the Market For Baseball Players

How Salary Caps Affect Player Compensation

The Affect of Professional Sports Facilities on Local Communities

College Sports Reform

Valuation of Professional Sports Teams


Publications

Comparing Economic Systems. Second Edition. Harcourt, Brace and Javonovich. (February 1989).

The Cuban Economy: Measurement and Analysis of Socialist Performance (with Claes Brundenius). Johns Hopkins University Press. (November 1989).

Panama at the Crossroads: Economic and Political Development in the Twentieth Century (with John Weeks) University of California Press. (June 1991).

Baseball and Billions: A Probing Look Inside the Big Business of Our National Pastime. Basic Books. (September 1992).

Editor (w/ Roger Noll). Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums. Brookings Institution Press. October 1997.  

Unpaid Professionals: Commercialization and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports. Princeton University Press (September 1999).

The Economics of Sport I & II. Edward Elgar (Summer 2001). 

May The Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy. Brookings Institution Press. (April 2003).

National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer. (with Stefan Szymanski). Brookings Institution Press. (April 2005).

In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig. Wiley. (April 2006).

The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business. Temple University Press. (August 2006).

Equal Play: Title IX and Social Change. (with Nancy Hogshead-Makar). Temple University Press. (October 2007).

Circling the Bases: Essays on the Challenges and Prospects of the Sports Industry. Temple University Press. (November 2010).

Editor (w/ Wolfgang Maennig). International Handbook on the Economics of Mega Sporting Events. Edward Elgar. (April 2012).

Home Team: New York Yankees - A Baseball Book for Kids. (w/ Shelley Rotner & Barbara Riccio). Delabarre Publishing. (July 17, 2012)

In the Best Interests of Baseball? Governing the National Pastime. University of Nebraska Press. (March 2013).

The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics on Baseball. (with Ben Baumer). University of Pennsylvania Press. (February 2014).

Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup. Brookings Institution Press. (February 2015).

Unwinding Madness: What Went Wrong with College Sports and How to Fix It. (with Donna Lopiano & Gerry Gurney). Brookings Institution Press. (2017).

No Boston Olympics: How and Why Smart Cities Are Passing On the Torch. (with Chris Dempsey). University Press of New England. (2017).

Editor. Rio 2016: Olympic Myths, Hard Realities. Brookings Institution Press. (August 2017).

Whither College Sports: Amateurism, Athlete Safety and Academic Integrity. Rutgers University Press. (September 2021).

Consulting For Government, Professional Sports Leagues, & Legal Firms

Andrew Zimbalist has consulted for the following organizations:

Weil, Gotshal & Manges in the litigation of the NFL Players’ Association to obtain free agency rights.

Grippo & Elden in the broadcasting case between WGN and the NBA.

Williams, Youle & Koenigs in the Denver Zephyrs’ arbitration case with the Colorado Rockies.

Robert Pearl in the Billy Martin case.

Cunningham Law Group in the Morsani/MLB litigation.

Campbell, Maack & Sessions in the  Portland Beavers/Pacific Coast League arbitration case.

Wendell, Chritton & Parks in the Florida State League/Florida Marlins arbitration case.

Major League Baseball Players’ Association in collective bargaining.

ABRY Communications in a baseball broadcasting suit.

Robert Bell in the Marianne Stanley v. USC case.

United Baseball League.

Krendl, Horowitz and Krendl in Ehrhardt v. Colorado Rockies.

Portland Oregon Mayor’s Commission on bringing another professional sports team to the city.

Wolff Associates in an effort to purchase a sports franchise.

Husch & Eppenberger representing the St. Louis stadium authority in an antitrust case against the NFL.

Rose, Sundstrom & Bentley in Tampa stadium case.

Connecticut Democratic Party in evaluating the economics of a proposal to build a new civic center.

IRS in franchise asset evaluation.

U.S. House Judiciary Committee in drafting bill for partially lifting baseball’s antitrust exemption as it applies to labor relations.

Davis, Scott, Weber & Edwards in a sports facility case.

Los Angeles Mayor’s office in an arena financing matter.

Department of Justice in a sports franchise valuation case.

National Basketball Players’ Association in collective bargaining.

City of New York Independent Budget Office in sports facility matter.

Rabinowitz, Boudin et al. in a copyright case.

National Hockey Players’ Association in a franchise financial analysis.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges as a damage expert in a challenge to the monopolization of the major league soccer labor market.

Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae in a baseball franchise value case.

Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz in an NFL/consumer rights case.

Greenbaum, Doll & McDonald in a sports antitrust case.

Menard, Murphy and Walsh in sports facility/eminent domain case.

Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman in NFL antitrust case.

Wisconsin Governor’s office pertaining to public contribution to new stadium for the Green Bay Packers.

Sills, Cummis, et al. in tax case involving the New Jersey Nets.

U.S. Department of Justice in tax case involving several baseball teams.

Shugart, Thomson and Kilroy in NFL franchise valuation case.

Boies, Schiller & Flexner in NFL ownership/franchise valuation case.

Henry Klein in an NFL/consumer rights case.

Thorsnes, Bartolotta & McGuire in sports broadcasting antitrust case.

Modern Continental in a stadium construction matter.

Boies, Schiller & Flexner in a broadcasting case.

Minneapolis Metropolitan Sports Facilities Corporation against MLB’s contraction efforts.

Boyle et al. in sports injury case.

McLaughlin, Gouldborne & Cohen in minor league baseball facilities case.

Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in sports antitrust matters.

Furnier & Thomas in a sports stadium matter.

NCAA in financial analysis of intercollegiate athletics.

Brascher Law in sports damages case.

Marcus Katz in sports league matter.

McKinsey & Company in college sports matter.

Bruce Ratner/Forest City in development matter.

Wisconsin State Legislature in team and stadium matter.

Dewey Ballantine in an antitrust matter concerning college sports.

Boies, Schiller and Flexner in an NFL ownership case.

Chip Meyers in boxing league venture.

ESPN in special program development.

WUSA in developing a business plan for the relaunch of the league.

McDonald & Hayden in NHL financial matter.

District of Columbia’s Controller’s Office in stadium matter.

San Francisco Giants in a stadium matter.

Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley in a stadium matter and an antitrust case involving Nascar.

City of Anaheim in a stadium matter.

Jackson County, Mo. in a stadium matter.

Rainey Kaiser in stadium matter in Jackson, Tennessee.

Magna Entertainment in horse racing matter.

Harrah’s in entertainment development matter.

Citigroup clients on franchise purchase.

NJSEA on stadium matter.

Michael Best LLP in franchise valuation matter.

MLB teams and entities.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors in assessing the economic impact of an Olympics bid.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges in matter involving an NBA basketball team.

Barnes & Thornburg in antitrust matter involving the men’s professional tennis tour.

City of Seattle in a sports facility matter.

Jones Day in NHL antitrust matter.

Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso in a college head coach liquidated damages case.

Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics on college sports finances and reform.

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in a franchise relocation matter.

Richard Rodier and Dewey Ballantine in an NHL franchise valuation matter.

An owner of a major league baseball team in franchise valuation.

Northlands in an arena matter in Edmonton, Canada.

U.S. Department of Justice in a college sports antitrust matter.

City of Ottawa, Canada in a stadium matter.

Major League Baseball’s Office of the Commissioner in the design of revenue sharing systems.

Hausfeld, LLP in NFL mediation over work stoppage.

Schiff Hardin LLP in publicity rights case involving Michael Jordon.

Jackson Kelly LLP in a college sports realignment mediation.

McDonald Sanders in a college conference matter.

Boyle, Shaughnessy & Campo in an NHL matter.

Meerkats, regarding Australian Rules Football, management strategy.

Bredhoff & Kaiser, regarding NLRB matter in college football.

Nagel Rice in NFL matter.

US Track & Field Athletes in compensation matter.

State of Rhode Island in a stadium financing matter.

Morrison & Foerster in a stadium matter.

Atlantic 10 Athletic Conference, 2016.

Cohen Milstein in antitrust case against the UFC.

City of Worcester in a stadium matter.

MVP Sports Group in player valuation matter.

ISL in antitrust matter involving FINA.

Hackensack UMC Fitness & Wellness in a publicity rights case.

Noble Insights in an MLB franchise purchase matter.

Northwoods League in a valuation of the league entity.

Harder LLP, in Shaun White publicity rights case.

J. Larew in Title IX Case at University of Iowa.

Felice Duffy in Title IX Case at University of Connecticut.

University of Memphis in NCAA Infractions Case as well as to several other companies in the area of sports economics. 

Consulted for the nine-part documentary on baseball in America by Ken Burns, and on his 2010 sequel – “The 10th Inning” –  on the baseball industry since 1992. 

Presentations

He has made presentations to the:

NCAA Title IX Seminar and to the NCAA Convention.

Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival.

Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Board Positions

He has served as a member of:

The Advisory Board, Museum of the City of New York for the exhibit on baseball in New York, 1947-1957.

The Board of Advisers for the Atlanta History Center for an exhibit on the 1996 summer Olympics.

The Board of Advisers of the Israeli Baseball League.

The Board of Directors of the Vintage Baseball Federation. 

The Board of Directors for the Drake Group.

The Board of Advisors for the Sports Management Program at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

The Board of Advisors for the Sports Law Program at Pennsylvania State University.

The Board of Advisors for the McKinnon Center for Global Affairs.

The faculty board of the College Sports Research Institute at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

Government Testimony

Testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the economic effects of U.S. policy toward Cuba in March 1994.

Testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in December 1992 in hearings on baseball’s antitrust exemption,

Testified before the N.Y. State Senate on public policy toward minor league baseball in February 1993,

Provided written testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in its consideration of the Bunnings/Synar bill to limit MLB’s anti-trust exemption in September 1994,

Testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in January 1996 at hearings on the future of professional sports leagues,

Testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in February 1996 at hearings on antitrust implications of professional sports franchise relocation,

Testified before the New York State Senate on the economic impact of sports franchises and stadiums on cities in April 1996,

Testified before the U.S. House Commerce Committee in May 1996 at hearings on the “Fan Freedom and Community Protection Act of 1996,”

Provided written testimony to the Connecticut State Legislature in December 1998 on the proposal to bring the New England Patriots to Hartford,

Testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in June 1999 at hearings on sports antitrust policy and stadium financing,

Testified before the Springfield City Council in July 1999 on public subsidies for the construction of a minor league stadium,

Testified before the Philadelphia City Council in June 2000 on pubic subsidies for stadium construction,

Provided written testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2000 at hearings on the economics of baseball,

Testified before the Knight Commission on College Athletic Reform in November 2000 and October 2008,

Provided written testimony to the Ways and Means Committee of the Boston City Council on the economic impact of a new baseball stadium

Testified before the U.S. Department of Education’s Commission of Gender Equity in College Athletics in November 2002. 

Editing

Guest editor and a contributor to the May 2002 special issue of the Journal of Sports Economics on competitive balance.

Awards

Selected as one of America’s Top 100 Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sport.

Is listed in Who’s Who in America. 

Business Week listed Baseball and Billions as one of the top eight business books of 1992.

Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums was selected by Lingua Franca as a Breakthrough Book.

Unpaid Professionals: Commercialization and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports was selected by Lingua Franca as a Breakthrough Book.

National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer was awarded the 2005 prize for “Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice.

The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics on Baseball was named to the Daily Beast list of best baseball books 2014.

Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup was named one of the best six business books of 2015 by The Economist.