Making It in the Minors

There are many sports-related books about what happens on the playing field, but few are written about the equally interesting stories of what happens on the business side.
Why acquire a professional sports team? What goes into the branding, marketing and entertainment that make some teams successful, and others not? What are the challenges that managers and staff face? Are there valuable lessons from the major and minor leagues for university, high school and other amateur sports programs? How do sports teams generate a profit?
While the examples are drawn from the business of baseball, the lessons are applicable to other sports and many retail businesses.

Arthur P. Solomon has been a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a partner on Wall Street, a real estate developer and the owner of two minor league baseball teams which have been awarded the Larry MacPhail and Bob Freitas awards. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Allyn I. Freeman is an experienced writer for television and author of numerous books about business, entrepreneurship and sports. He lives in New York City.

Arthur P. Solomon with Allyn I. Freeman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 208
Bibliographic Info: 20 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6867-6
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9297-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      ix
Preface      1

1. New Sports Owner, New Breed      3
2. Building the Brand, It’s More Than Sports      27
3. Creating Partnerships      47
4. Customizing Advertising and Promotions      67
5. Family Events and Family Entertainment      85
6. The Core, Ancillary and Complementary Businesses      105
7. Hiring and Training the Professional Staff      124
8. The Economics of Professional Baseball      142
9. A Successful Sports Franchise      162
10. Reflections of a Baseball Junkie      180

Index      195

“Whether curious fans or aspiring executives, readers will welcome this hands-on guide to building and managing a successful minor league baseball club. With stories and examples, Arthur Solomon shares his knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to take us behind the scenes of the real world of club ownership and management, where he has been so successful.”—Stephen A. Greyser, Harvard Business School.