Selected by\u00a0The Economist\u00a0as one of the best six business books of 2015.<\/p>\n
“Even appropriately jaded readers are likely to be shocked by the evidence in\u00a0Circus Maximus\u2026which reveals the magnitude of the deception that precedes these events and the disappointment that follows.” \u201cA remarkable study that exposes the extraordinary chicanery and dodgy dealing behind staging the Olympics and the World Cup.\u201d “Circus Maximus\u00a0provides a comprehensive compendium of\u00a0 the benefits and costs of hosting the Olympics or soccer’s World Cup.\u00a0 Andrew\u00a0 Zimbalist documents how the officials who run the international sports organizations that authorize these events profit handsomely, while host cities and nations experience ever-increasing losses.\u00a0 The book also explains\u00a0why before-the-fact claims that such events will deliver long-term economic benefits typically are wildly inaccurate.\u00a0 A citizen or public official who contemplates supporting a bid — Roger Noll, Professor of Economics, Stanford University<\/p>\n “Pssst.\u00a0 Wanna buy a velodrome cheap? Andrew Zimbalist’s brutal examination of how the International Olympic Committee and FIFA (“soccer maximus” to you and me) have sweet-talked cities and nations into hosting their extravaganzas is absolutely devastating in its ugly detail.\u00a0 Any prospective municipal or national customer who doesn’t read this book before applying for the rights to \u00a0supply the IOC or FIFA with their land and finances deserves all the debt and humbug they’re going to end up with.”<\/p>\n \u2013\u2013 Frank Deford<\/p>\n “Indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the impact of hosting the olympics.”<\/p>\n — Evan Horowitz, Boston Globe<\/p>\n “Andrew Zimbalist is a perpetual source of insight on the economics and administration of modern sports.\u00a0 When weighing the very real risks and rewards of hosting major international events, political leaders and informed citizens should carefully consider the information and arguments presented here before rolling the dice.”<\/p>\n — Bob Costas, Broadcaster, NBC Sports and Major League Baseball Network<\/p>\n “You’ll be hearing a lot in the coming years about\u00a0the problems cities face when they consider\u00a0hosting the Olympic Games and the World Cup. This international issue is thoroughly explored by Andrew Zimbalist in his important new book, Circus Maximus.\u00a0 Zimbalist is the perfect person to\u00a0delve into\u00a0this timely topic, located\u00a0at the intersection of sports and economics.”<\/p>\n — Christine Brennan, USA Today national sports columnist, ABC News and CNN\u00a0commentator<\/p>\n “Circus Maximus\u00a0shines a bright light on the much-needed discussion about the unconscionable expense surrounding both the bidding process and hosting of the Olympics and the World\u00a0 Cup. The perfectly titled book will leave you gasping for reform. Immediately.”<\/p>\n \u2014Julie Foudy, ESPN analyst, former U.S. national soccer team captain\u2014winner of two World Cups and three Olympic medals<\/p>\n \u201cCleanly written and information-packed analysis\u201d \u2013 James Srodes,\u00a0Washington Times<\/p>\n Circus Maximus has been published in several languages and in June 2020 the third edition of the book in English was published.\u00a0 The third editions contains a new preface and a lengthy new postscript, as well as an updating of the rest of the text.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Selected by\u00a0The Economist\u00a0as one of the best six business books of 2015. “Even appropriately jaded readers are likely to be shocked by the evidence in\u00a0Circus Maximus\u2026which reveals the magnitude of the deception that precedes these events and the disappointment that follows.” \u2013\u00a0The Economist \u201cA remarkable study that exposes the extraordinary chicanery and dodgy dealing behind … Continue reading Circus Maximus<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3944,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38\/revisions\/122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/azimbali\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u2013\u00a0The Economist<\/a><\/p>\n
\n–\u00a0The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n
\nto host a sports mega-event ought to read this book.”<\/p>\n