“The NFL is the richest sports franchise, full of billionaire capitalists demanding socialist handouts so they can make even more profits.”
— Ralph Nader
By Ken Reed
The billionaire owners of the Buffalo Bills, Terry and Kim Pegula, have landed $850 million in taxpayer dollars for a new stadium. The deal was approved […]
By Ken Reed
There have been a lot of stories about how Covid-19, and the move to home-schooling it caused, has resulted in our kids falling behind academically. Indeed, that’s a real problem.
However, an equally important negative impact of Covid on our youth is the physical inactivity epidemic it has fed.
For years, our […]
Guest Column
By Joe Haefner
There’s a lot of misinformation about whether kids should specialize in one sport year-round…or play a variety of sports…and if/when specialization should begin.
We (breakthroughbasketball.com) believe that youth should play a variety of sports and not specialize in basketball until age 14 or older. In fact, we encourage athletes […]
By Ken Reed
Originally published by Troy Media
“Every other sport – like virtually every sort of business – is governed by the antitrust laws.”
– Stuart Banner, author of The Baseball Trust: A History of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption
The fact that the Supreme Court of the United States gave Major League […]
“There is no industry like baseball in our country. It has special status as a monopoly, and it is completely unregulated. Right now baseball exploits the hell out of the cities.”
— Andrew Zimbalist, American economist and Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College.
“The initial rationale for the baseball exemption was […]
“Every other sport – like virtually every sort of business – is governed by the antitrust laws.”
— Stuart Banner, author of “The Baseball Trust: A History of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption”
By Ken Reed
In a recent Saint Louis University Law Journal article, Adam Renfro stated:
“That the relationship between MLB and the […]
League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast
[Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others]
This week’s guest is Anika Orrock, author and illustrator of “The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.”
For many, the AAGPBL was brought to light by the movie “A League of Their […]
By Ken Reed
Five years ago, Max McGee was a server at a couple different restaurants, trying to make ends meet. Today, he’s a sports anchor for ESPN.
McGee, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey native, had dreamt about being an ESPN Sports Anchor since he was a boy growing up. He went to Temple […]
By Ken Reed
League of Fans and the American Museum of Tort Law are presenting a panel discussion on the legal aspects of brain trauma and how it might change high school and youth football as we know it.
The panel of experts includes: Patrick Hruby, a journalist who has written extensively about brain […]
By Ken Reed
Several decades ago, Jim Bouton, the former New York Yankee, said baseball owners have it made. “Who’s got a better deal than baseball owners?” said Bouton.
“You have no factories, no raw materials, no inventory and no technological obsolescence in a monopoly business that binds your employees to you for the […]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #33 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Ken Reed Announces His Retirement and Chats With League of Fans Founder Ralph Nader – Ken and Ralph talk about the history of League of Fans and the reasons it was created. They then move into a discussion of a variety of contemporary sports issues that League of Fans has been working on in recent years. Ken and Ralph end by talking about the need for sports fans, athletes, and other sports stakeholders to get involved in the sports reform movement and be activists and change agents on issues important to them, whether that be at the local, state, or national level.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify and others.
Episode #32 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Prolific Author Joe Posnanski Joins the Show – Posnanski is one of America’s best sportswriters and has twice been named the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors. We chat about his new book, “Why We Love Baseball,” his new Substack newsletter called Joe Blogs.
Episode #31 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Foul Ball Safety Is Still an Important Issue at Ballparks – Our guests are Jordan Skopp, founder of FoulBallSafety.com and Greg Wilkowski, a Chicago based attorney. We discuss the historical problem of foul balls injuring fans and why some teams are still hesitant to put up protective netting in some minor league and college baseball parks.
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books
