The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families

A look at how commercialization has transformed youth sports from fun into a heavily commercialized and profitable venture

Examining the youth sports economy from many sides--the major corporations, the small entrepreneurs, the coaches, the parents, and, of course, the kids--Hyman probes the reasons for rapid changes in what gets bought and sold in this lucrative marketplace. He reveals the effects on kids and profiles the individuals and communities bucking this destructive trend of commercialization.

Mark Hyman is a journalist and the author of Until It Hurts. He teaches in the sports management program at George Washington University.