The Most Expensive Game in Town

The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families

De: Mark Hyman

Narrado por: Mike Chamberlain

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.

©2012 Mark Hyman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Enjoyed, but wanted more statistics or takeaways

What did you love best about The Most Expensive Game in Town?

Good information. Great to get some insight into some of the specifics that are happening.

Have you listened to any of Mike Chamberlain’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Reader was good. I've heard him to other books, and he's got a perfect voice for statistical based non fiction.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You're ruining your kids lives.

Any additional comments?

Overall I liked the book. However, I wish there was more statistical analysis on what happens to kids who's parent actually spend all the money on sports. I also wish there was more info on how valuable (or lack of value) there is in spending money on kids before a certain age - meaning how much does it actually help to spend 1k on training for an 8 year old.

The author provides a lot of good information, but makes very few statements like - based on this information you should do (or at least consider) XXXXXX.

Not shocking but I struggle with the Corporate bashing

If there is a market for an edge in youth sports someone will fill it. ESPN and Nike while making money off of youth have to live in the public eye and have brands that want to be perceived as "good for kids". They will never be perfect but the will make changes over time if their sales drop due to perception.
I have friends who spent and ran the weekend gauntlet of tournaments with their children and for a time saw had the hope of D1 scholarships, but I dont see the regret of victim mentality in them that the author has.
They chased a dream and they might not have gotten the scholarship they wanted but they got the experiences, life lessons and memories of chasing greatness something that is needed vs apathy and the blame game that is more of an issue amongst modern teenage youth and parenting today.

The True Cost of Youth Sports

Mark Hyman tallys the price of youth sports in the USA in dollars and lives. From equipment to private lessons, from tournament trips to MRIs, parents are bleeding themselves dry for their children’s activities.

Some parents try to live their dreams through their children. They believe they're investing in their children’s future, led astray by the many corporate youth programs who tell them their kids are the next Venus & Serena Williams— they just need more lessons, more workshops, more camps.

This fine investigative journalism might make you think twice before you send your kid across the country to Lacrosse summer camp.