This timely book offers a critical interpretation of the traditional social and economic accounts of sport. It provides an incisive analysis of professional sport and defines alternative foundations to the present model. The authors demonstrate that professional sport is an extremely complex phenomenon encompassing many unique factors depending on its global reach, financing and organization. In particular they address three significant issues: an analysis of the relationship between sport and economic development in order to explain the place of professional sport in modern societies a study of the main difficulties facing the organization of professional sports in terms of financing, collective bargaining and the consequences of revenue sharing for competitive balance an exploration of alternatives to current governance structures which would involve a return to professional ethics. This insightful and topical book is essential for academics and students of sport management, researchers of the economics of sport, managers of clubs and federations involved in professional sports, as well as civil servants and journalists.