Andrew
Zimbalist
Smith College
Andrew Zimbalist
received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1969 and his
M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He has
been in the Economics Department at Smith College since 1974 and has been a
visiting professor at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan (1985) and a visiting
research fellow at Harvard University (1980). He presently is the Robert A.
Woods professor of economics at Smith College and a member of the Five College
Graduate Faculty.
Dr. Zimbalist
was editor of a book series on "The Political Economy of Development in
Latin America" for Westview Press from 1987 through 1994. He chaired the
Latin American Scholars' Association's Task Force on Scholarly Relations with
Cuba during 1992-94. He testified before the House Ways and Means Committee
on the economic effects of U.S. policy toward Cuba in March 1994 and participated
in the congressional program of the Aspen Institute as an expert on the Cuban
economy.
Dr. Zimbalist
has consulted in Latin America for the United Nations Development Program, the
Atlantic Council, IRELA, the Economist Intelligence Unit and the U.S. Agency
for International Development as well as for numerous companies around investment
in Latin America. Dr. Zimbalist has served as a consultant to Weil, Gotshal
& Manges in the litigation of the NFL Players' Association to obtain free
agency rights, to Grippo & Elden in the broadcasting case between WGN and
the NBA, to Williams, Youle & Koenigs in the Denver Zephyrs' arbitration
case with the Colorado Rockies, to Robert Pearl in the Billy Martin case, to
the Cunningham Law Group in the Morsani/MLB litigation, to Campbell, Maack &
Sessions in the Portland Beavers/Pacific Coast League arbitration case, to Wendell,
Chritton & Parks in the Florida State League/Florida Marlins arbitration
case, to the Major League Baseball Players' Association in collective bargaining,
to ABRY Communications in a baseball broadcasting suit, to Robert Bell in the
Marianne Stanley v. USC case, to the United Baseball League, to Krendl, Horowitz
and Krendl in Ehrhardt v. Colorado Rockies, to the Portland Oregon Mayor's Commission
on bringing another professional sports team to the city, to Wolff Associates
in an effort to purchase a sports franchise, to Husch & Eppenberger representing
the St. Louis stadium authority in an antitrust case against the NFL, to Rose,
Sundstrom & Bentley in Tampa stadium case, to the Connecticut Democratic
Party in evaluating the economics of a proposal to build a new civic center,
to the IRS in franchise asset evaluation, to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee
in drafting bill for partially lifting baseball's antitrust exemption as it
applies to labor relations, to Davis, Scott, Weber & Edwards in a sports
facility case, to the Los Angeles Mayor's office in an arena financing matter,
to the Department of Justice in a sports franchise valuation case, to the National
Basketball Players' Association in collective bargaining, to the City of New
York Independent Budget Office in sports facility matter, to Rabinowitz, Boudin
et al. in a copyright case, to the National Hockey Players' Association in a
franchise financial analysis, to Weil, Gotshal & Manges as a damage expert
in a challenge to the monopolization of the major league soccer labor market,
to Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae in a baseball franchise value case, to
Kohrman, Jackson & Krantz in an NFL/consumer rights case, to Greenbaum,
Doll & McDonald in a sports antitrust case, to Menard, Murphy and Walsh
in sports facility/eminent domain case, to Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman
in NFL antitrust case, to the Wisconsin Governor's office pertaining to public
contribution to new stadium for the Green Bay Packers, to Sills, Cummis, et
al. in tax case involving the New Jersey Nets, to U.S. Department of Justice
in tax case involving several baseball teams, to Shugart, Thomson and Kilroy
in NFL franchise valuation case, to Boies, Schiller & Flexner in NFL ownership/franchise
valuation case, to Henry Klein in an NFL/consumer rights case, to Thorsnes,
Bartolotta & McGuire in sports broadcasting antitrust case, to Modern Continental
in a stadium construction matter, to Boies, Schiller & Flexner in a broadcasting
case, to the Minneapolis Metropolitan Sports Facilities Corporation against
MLB's contraction efforts, to Boyle et al. in sports injury case, to McLaughlin,
Gouldborne & Cohen in minor league baseball facilities case, to the Antitrust
Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in sports antitrust matters, as well
as to several other companies in the area of sports economics. He also consulted
for the nine-part documentary on baseball in America by Ken Burns. He testified
before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in December 1992 in hearings on baseball's
antitrust exemption, before the N.Y. State Senate on public policy toward minor
league baseball in February 1993, provided written testimony to the House Judiciary
Committee in its consideration of the Bunnings/Synar bill to limit MLB's anti-trust
exemption in September 1994, testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
in January 1996 at hearings on the future of professional sports leagues, testified
before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in February 1996 at hearings on antitrust
implications of professional sports franchise relocation, testified before the
New York State Senate on the economic impact of sports franchises and stadiums
on cities in April 1996, testified before the U.S. House Commerce Committee
in May 1996 at hearings on the "Fan Freedom and Community Protection Act
of 1996," provided written testimony to the Connecticut State Legislature
in December 1998 on the proposal to bring the New England Patriots to Hartford,
testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in June 1999 at hearings
on sports antitrust policy and stadium financing, testified before the Springfield
City Council in July 1999 on public subsidies for the construction of a minor
league stadium, testified before the Philadelphia City Council in June 2000
on pubic subsidies for stadium construction, provided written testimony to the
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2000 at hearings on the economics
of baseball, testified before the Knight Commission on College Athletic Reform
in November 2000, provided written testimony to the Ways and Means Committee
of the Boston City Council on the economic impact of a new baseball stadium,
and testified before the U.S. Department of Education's Commission of Gender
Equity in College Athletics in November 2002.
Dr. Zimbalist
has published thirteen books and several dozen articles primarily in the areas
of comparative economic systems, economic development and sports economics.
The second edition of his co-authored textbook Comparing Economic Systems was
published by Harcourt, Brace and Javonovich in February 1989 and his The Cuban
Economy: Measurement and Analysis of Socialist Performance (with Swedish economist,
Claes Brundenius) was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in November
1989. His book Panama at the Crossroads: Economic and Political Development
in the Twentieth Century (with Professor John Weeks of the University of London)
was published in June 1991 by the University of California Press.
In September 1992 Dr. Zimbalist published his widely-acclaimed Baseball and
Billions: A Probing Look Inside the Big Business of Our National Pastime, with
Basic Books, a subsidiary of Harper Collins. Business Week listed Baseball and
Billions as one of the top eight business books of 1992. The Japanese edition
was published by Dobunshoin in July 1993 and an expanded paperback edition was
published in March 1994 by Basic Books. In October 1997, Dr. Zimbalist published
Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums with
the Brookings Institution Press, which he co-edited and co-authored with Roger
Noll, from Stanford University. The Wall Street Journal called Sports, Jobs
and Taxes "must reading for people living in or around any city still targeted
for stadium-building...." The National Tax Journal called it "a persuasive
compendium of theoretical, empirical and case study evidence on the economics
of subsidies for sports stadiums and teams." It was selected by Lingua
Franca as a Breakthrough Book.
Dr. Zimbalist's
articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The
Nation, The Brookings Review, The Washington Post, US News and World Report,
Business Week, USA Today, Foreign Policy, World Development, Brill's Content,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Seton Hall Journal of Sports Law, Latin
American Research Review, Journal of Latin American Studies, Journal of Sports
Economics, Journal of Economic Perspectives, The Milken Institute Review, Wall
Street Journal and the New York Times Magazine among other places. He has appeared
on numerous national radio and television talk shows discussing both international
economics and the economics of sports and is an active participant on the lecture
circuit. He wrote the foreword to the second edition of Bob Costas' Fair Ball,
is a contributing columnist for the Sports Business Journal and was chosen as
the 1998 sports journalist of the year by the Village Voice. PBS' Wall Street
Week with Fortune introduced him as the country's leading sports economist.
He serves as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics.
Presently, he is a regular commentator on the business of sports for NPR's Marketplace.
Dr. Zimbalist's
1999 book, Unpaid Professionals: Commercialization and Conflict in Big-Time
College Sports, was published by Princeton University Press in September of
that year. Business Week called it "complete and authoritative" and
The New York Times wrote "In remarkably clear and clear-eyed prose (even
his charts are readable), Zimbalist follows the money instead of the ball in
the emotion-charged world of college sports." The Washington Post Book
World wrote: "Zimbalist got game. This book ... is a solid analysis of
a segment of American life that Zimbalist claims is in dire need of reform.
After reading this book you'll find it hard to disagree with him. One of its
virtues is its tone. Zimbalist's wry sense of humor is evident throughout."
The Baltimore Sun called it "excellent ... readable, solidly researched
and adds great clarity to a muddy debate .... Zimbalist proposes a sensible
10-part reform plan that would preserve a place on college rosters for genuine
student-athletes." It has been selected by Lingua Franca as a Breakthrough
Book. An expanded and updated paperback edition of Unpaid Professionals will
be published in January 2001.
In the Summer of 2001 Zimbalist published The Economics of Sport I & II,
which is part of the Edward Elgar series entitled The International Library
of Critical Writings in Economics, edited by Mark Blaug. He was the guest editor
and a contributor to the May 2002 special issue of the Journal of Sports Economics
on competitive balance. Dr. Zimbalist's next book, May The Best Team Win: Baseball
Economics and Public Policy, with a foreword by Bob Costas, will be published
by Brookings in March 2003.