Book Description

Globalization not only means fans watching distant contests and leagues exporting their products elsewhere; it also means the ability of knowledgeable academics and policy-oriented fans to learn about how others confront similar challenges. North Americans who realize on reflection that the way we do things is not necessarily natural or the only way will enjoy and profit from the insightful comparative essays in this book. The so-called European Model of Sport is quite different than our own. There are significant parallels between the European effort to distinguish sport and commerce and our own efforts in regard to big-time collegiate sports. The unusual (for North American fans of typical sports leagues) issues with regard to auto racing are quite instructive. A truly horizon-expanding work. Stephen F. Ross, Penn State Institute for Sports Law, Policy and Research, US The purpose of this book is to examine, from an EU perspective, the numerous developments which have taken place in the regulation of sporting activity in the last decade. Uniquely, in addressing these developments, the book adopts an inter-disciplinary approach, involving law, economics and sociology. The chapters place the regulation of sport in the context of the EU regulatory structure which hitherto has emerged in a piece-meal fashion and thus warrants a more holistic approach. The chapters bring together several key themes which arise from the question of whether sport is special? This addresses a growing argument that sporting activity displays unique properties which require a distinct form of regulation that existing competition or free movement rules cannot provide. The book is divided into three parts which reflect the current policy, legislative and judicial discourses that exists in the regulation of sport. The Regulation of Sport in the European Union provides both an academic and practical review of EU law and policy as applied to sport, and as such, this comprehensive overview will be of great interest to EU law academics, economists and political scientists. It will also appeal to legal practitioners and to those with an interest in regulatory processes in the EU.