David George Surdam is an associate professor of economics at the University of Northern Iowa. He is the author of Wins, Losses, and Empty Seats: How Baseball Outlasted the Great Depression and The Postwar Yankees: Baseball’s Golden Age Revisited, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.

"A terrific addition to the sports economics literature."-F. H. Smith, CHOICE -- F. H. Smith CHOICE

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Usurpers: The AAFC Challenge 2. Prosperity and Its Drawbacks 3. Measures of the NFL's Popularity 4. Profits and Losses 5. The Perils and Triumphs of NFL Ownership 6. Antitrust Adventures 7. Competitive Balance and Its Sources 8. The Player Draft 9. Gate Sharing 10. Gilded Peonage 11. Television 12. Innovation 13. Integration Conclusion: The NFL's Rise to Prominence Appendix of Tables Notes Bibliography Index

David George Surdam is an associate professor of economics at the University of Northern Iowa. He is the author of Wins, Losses, and Empty Seats: How Baseball Outlasted the Great Depression and The Postwar Yankees: Baseball’s Golden Age Revisited, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.

"A terrific addition to the sports economics literature."-F. H. Smith, CHOICE -- F. H. Smith CHOICE

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Usurpers: The AAFC Challenge 2. Prosperity and Its Drawbacks 3. Measures of the NFL's Popularity 4. Profits and Losses 5. The Perils and Triumphs of NFL Ownership 6. Antitrust Adventures 7. Competitive Balance and Its Sources 8. The Player Draft 9. Gate Sharing 10. Gilded Peonage 11. Television 12. Innovation 13. Integration Conclusion: The NFL's Rise to Prominence Appendix of Tables Notes Bibliography Index

David George Surdam is an associate professor of economics at the University of Northern Iowa. He is the author of Wins, Losses, and Empty Seats: How Baseball Outlasted the Great Depression and The Postwar Yankees: Baseball’s Golden Age Revisited, both available from the University of Nebraska Press.

"A terrific addition to the sports economics literature."-F. H. Smith, CHOICE -- F. H. Smith CHOICE

• List of Tables Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Usurpers: The AAFC Challenge 2. Prosperity and Its Drawbacks 3. Measures of the NFL's Popularity 4. Profits and Losses 5. The Perils and Triumphs of NFL Ownership 6. Antitrust Adventures 7. Competitive Balance and Its Sources 8. The Player Draft 9. Gate Sharing 10. Gilded Peonage 11. Television 12. Innovation 13. Integration Conclusion: The NFL's Rise to Prominence Appendix of Tables Notes Bibliography Index