D. Stanley Eitzen was professor emeritus of sociology at Colorado State University, where he taught for twenty-one years, most recently as John N. Stern Distinguished Professor. He was the author or coauthor of twenty-four books, including three on sport, as well as numerous scholarly articles and chapters in scholarly books. He was a former president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and the recipient of that organization’s Distinguished Service Award. Among his other awards, he was selected to be a Sports Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport.Cheryl Cooky is a professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Purdue University. Her research focuses in three areas: gendered media representations of sport; gender politics of sport and public policies; and how gender shapes sports experiences, cultural meanings, and organizational structures in sports. She is the co-author of Serving Equality: Feminism, Media and Women’s Sports (2022, Peter Lang Publishers) and No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change (2018, Rutgers University Press).

A timely update of a longtime leader in the field, Fair and Foul is a model of how to think critically about sport without losing sight of sport’s unique pleasures and social benefits. Fabulous for teaching.

• PrefaceNew to the Seventh EditionAcknowledgmentsForeword by Michael A. MessnerChapter 1: Paradoxes of Sport: An IntroductionTheme I: Sport Is Fair; Sport Is FoulTheme II: Sport as a Microcosm of SocietyCommon Characteristics of Sport and SocietyVariation on the “Sport as a Microcosm of Society” Theme: The Super BowlVariation on the “Sport as a Microcosm of Society” Theme: What Football and Baseball Tell us About our SocietyOverviewParadoxes of SportPart I: Sport is Fair, Sport is FoulChapter 2: Sport Unites, Sport DividesThe Role of Sport in Unity and Division among NationsUnity and Division through Sport in the United StatesCaveatsChapter 3: Sport Includes, Sport ExcludesTitle IX, Participation, and OpportunityBarriers to Girls and Women’s SportsMedia Coverage of Women’s SportsImpact of Sports on Girls and Women, on SocietyConclusionChapter 4: Sport Is Healthy, Sport Is DestructiveSports and Girls and Women’s HealthThe Destructive Aspects of SportConclusionChapter 5: The Organization of Youth Sport: Issues and ConsequencesTwo Fundamentally Different Forms of Play for Young ChildrenThe Dark Side of Adult-Centered PlayConclusionPart II: Sports as a Microcosm of SocietyChapter 6: Are Sports Played on a Level Playing Field? Issues of Race, Class, and GenderRacial InequitiesClass InequitiesGender InequitiesConclusionChapter 7: Media and Sport: Changing Sports, Changing MediaShifts in the Media LandscapeTelevised Sports as a Window on Reality or a Social Construction?Commercial InterestsSport as a Male PreserveTelevision as a Game ChangerConclusionChapter 8: Big-Time College Sport: Commercialized Sport Within AcademiaThe Case that Big-Time Sport Promotes EducationThe Case that Big-Time Sport Compromises Educational GoalsCollege Sport as Big BusinessSummary: The Contradictions of Big-Time Sport in AcademiaChapter 9: Professional Sports Franchises: Public Teams, Private BusinessesProfessional Sport as a MonopolyPublic Subsidies to Professional Team FranchisesThe Rationale for Public Subsidization of Professional Sports TeamsAn Alternative StructureChapter 10: The Challenge: Changing SportIs Change Possible?Should We Change Sport?How Do We Go About Making Changes?IndexAbout the Authors

D. Stanley Eitzen was professor emeritus of sociology at Colorado State University, where he taught for twenty-one years, most recently as John N. Stern Distinguished Professor. He was the author or coauthor of twenty-four books, including three on sport, as well as numerous scholarly articles and chapters in scholarly books. He was a former president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and the recipient of that organization’s Distinguished Service Award. Among his other awards, he was selected to be a Sports Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport.Cheryl Cooky is a professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Purdue University. Her research focuses in three areas: gendered media representations of sport; gender politics of sport and public policies; and how gender shapes sports experiences, cultural meanings, and organizational structures in sports. She is the co-author of Serving Equality: Feminism, Media and Women’s Sports (2022, Peter Lang Publishers) and No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change (2018, Rutgers University Press).

A timely update of a longtime leader in the field, Fair and Foul is a model of how to think critically about sport without losing sight of sport’s unique pleasures and social benefits. Fabulous for teaching.

• PrefaceNew to the Seventh EditionAcknowledgmentsForeword by Michael A. MessnerChapter 1: Paradoxes of Sport: An IntroductionTheme I: Sport Is Fair; Sport Is FoulTheme II: Sport as a Microcosm of SocietyCommon Characteristics of Sport and SocietyVariation on the “Sport as a Microcosm of Society” Theme: The Super BowlVariation on the “Sport as a Microcosm of Society” Theme: What Football and Baseball Tell us About our SocietyOverviewParadoxes of SportPart I: Sport is Fair, Sport is FoulChapter 2: Sport Unites, Sport DividesThe Role of Sport in Unity and Division among NationsUnity and Division through Sport in the United StatesCaveatsChapter 3: Sport Includes, Sport ExcludesTitle IX, Participation, and OpportunityBarriers to Girls and Women’s SportsMedia Coverage of Women’s SportsImpact of Sports on Girls and Women, on SocietyConclusionChapter 4: Sport Is Healthy, Sport Is DestructiveSports and Girls and Women’s HealthThe Destructive Aspects of SportConclusionChapter 5: The Organization of Youth Sport: Issues and ConsequencesTwo Fundamentally Different Forms of Play for Young ChildrenThe Dark Side of Adult-Centered PlayConclusionPart II: Sports as a Microcosm of SocietyChapter 6: Are Sports Played on a Level Playing Field? Issues of Race, Class, and GenderRacial InequitiesClass InequitiesGender InequitiesConclusionChapter 7: Media and Sport: Changing Sports, Changing MediaShifts in the Media LandscapeTelevised Sports as a Window on Reality or a Social Construction?Commercial InterestsSport as a Male PreserveTelevision as a Game ChangerConclusionChapter 8: Big-Time College Sport: Commercialized Sport Within AcademiaThe Case that Big-Time Sport Promotes EducationThe Case that Big-Time Sport Compromises Educational GoalsCollege Sport as Big BusinessSummary: The Contradictions of Big-Time Sport in AcademiaChapter 9: Professional Sports Franchises: Public Teams, Private BusinessesProfessional Sport as a MonopolyPublic Subsidies to Professional Team FranchisesThe Rationale for Public Subsidization of Professional Sports TeamsAn Alternative StructureChapter 10: The Challenge: Changing SportIs Change Possible?Should We Change Sport?How Do We Go About Making Changes?IndexAbout the Authors

D. Stanley Eitzen was professor emeritus of sociology at Colorado State University, where he taught for twenty-one years, most recently as John N. Stern Distinguished Professor. He was the author or coauthor of twenty-four books, including three on sport, as well as numerous scholarly articles and chapters in scholarly books. He was a former president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and the recipient of that organization’s Distinguished Service Award. Among his other awards, he was selected to be a Sports Ethics Fellow by the Institute for International Sport.Cheryl Cooky is a professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Purdue University. Her research focuses in three areas: gendered media representations of sport; gender politics of sport and public policies; and how gender shapes sports experiences, cultural meanings, and organizational structures in sports. She is the co-author of Serving Equality: Feminism, Media and Women’s Sports (2022, Peter Lang Publishers) and No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change (2018, Rutgers University Press).

A timely update of a longtime leader in the field, Fair and Foul is a model of how to think critically about sport without losing sight of sport’s unique pleasures and social benefits. Fabulous for teaching.

• PrefaceNew to the Seventh EditionAcknowledgmentsForeword by Michael A. MessnerChapter 1: Paradoxes of Sport: An IntroductionTheme I: Sport Is Fair; Sport Is FoulTheme II: Sport as a Microcosm of SocietyCommon Characteristics of Sport and SocietyVariation on the “Sport as a Microcosm of Society” Theme: The Super BowlVariation on the “Sport as a Microcosm of Society” Theme: What Football and Baseball Tell us About our SocietyOverviewParadoxes of SportPart I: Sport is Fair, Sport is FoulChapter 2: Sport Unites, Sport DividesThe Role of Sport in Unity and Division among NationsUnity and Division through Sport in the United StatesCaveatsChapter 3: Sport Includes, Sport ExcludesTitle IX, Participation, and OpportunityBarriers to Girls and Women’s SportsMedia Coverage of Women’s SportsImpact of Sports on Girls and Women, on SocietyConclusionChapter 4: Sport Is Healthy, Sport Is DestructiveSports and Girls and Women’s HealthThe Destructive Aspects of SportConclusionChapter 5: The Organization of Youth Sport: Issues and ConsequencesTwo Fundamentally Different Forms of Play for Young ChildrenThe Dark Side of Adult-Centered PlayConclusionPart II: Sports as a Microcosm of SocietyChapter 6: Are Sports Played on a Level Playing Field? Issues of Race, Class, and GenderRacial InequitiesClass InequitiesGender InequitiesConclusionChapter 7: Media and Sport: Changing Sports, Changing MediaShifts in the Media LandscapeTelevised Sports as a Window on Reality or a Social Construction?Commercial InterestsSport as a Male PreserveTelevision as a Game ChangerConclusionChapter 8: Big-Time College Sport: Commercialized Sport Within AcademiaThe Case that Big-Time Sport Promotes EducationThe Case that Big-Time Sport Compromises Educational GoalsCollege Sport as Big BusinessSummary: The Contradictions of Big-Time Sport in AcademiaChapter 9: Professional Sports Franchises: Public Teams, Private BusinessesProfessional Sport as a MonopolyPublic Subsidies to Professional Team FranchisesThe Rationale for Public Subsidization of Professional Sports TeamsAn Alternative StructureChapter 10: The Challenge: Changing SportIs Change Possible?Should We Change Sport?How Do We Go About Making Changes?IndexAbout the Authors