Many sports fans are conflicted—they may love the games, the players, and their communities, but may be alarmed by issues including academic corruption, athlete health, and the overarching emphasis on winning and profit at all costs. From disturbing new research about the long-term impact of sports concussions to publicly financed stadiums that drive profits to team owners but not communities, author Ken Reed argues that much of our sports culture is broken, driven by ego and greed. How We Can Save Sports is written to inform and empower sports stakeholders who care deeply about the impact of sports today on individuals and society as a whole. Reed, sports policy director for the League of Fans, introduces readers to ten of the most pressing problems in sports today and shows how they largely derive from the mentalities of profit-at-all-costs and win-at-all-costs. Chapters dig into issues such as concussions, overzealous adults in youth sports, the disappearance of PE from many school curriculums, the focus on profit objectives in college sports, discrimination in sports, and more. Each chapter outlines key challenges and provides concrete steps that readers can take to work for change. The book includes lists of helpful resources for readers interested in change at various levels—from youth and high school sports, to AAU and college athletics, to professional sports.

"This book’s title raises a question: what sports are to be saved—professional, university, school, children’s, community? Reed's answer is all, for both participants and fans, by keeping sport policies and social responsibilities from being dominated by profit/political interests and a win-at-all-costs philosophy. Topics discussed include the “ego and greed” of professional franchises that receive taxpayer-provided arenas and ongoing tax benefits and then move their teams if further demands are not met; concussions suffered by athletes; the role of adult egos in youth sports; treatment of student-athletes and other problems in college sport; content and philosophy of school physical education; undesirable coaching styles; needs in women’s sports; opportunities for disabled athletes; and the symbiotic relationship between sports media and commercial interests. For each area, the author outlines and analyzes the existing situations and proposes solutions to improve them. He advocates the establishment of a national sports commission, which would play an important role in development of the nation’s sport policy and a national code of sports ethics and coordinate research on sports issues. . . .Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers." - CHOICE

"How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan, by Dr. Ken Reed, a former college athlete, coach, longtime sports marketer, sports management instructor and sports issues columnist, and now the sports policy director for our League of Fans, is unlike any other sports book I've seen. There are plenty of books on the market about each of our most popular sports – football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, golf, etc. There are numerous books that profile our well-known sports figures. And there are a few books on specific sports issues like concussions and taxpayer-financed stadiums and arenas. But Reed's book is different. It covers the whole waterfront of sports issues and looks at how they're all interconnected. It's basically a sports manifesto that looks at nine of the most important sports issues we face today and the red thread that weaves through them all, from youth sports to the pros." - The Huffington Post

"What Reed does well in this 'sports manifesto' is capsulize the biggest problems into well-reasoned, readable, and exceptionally well-resourced accounts, using academics and journalists both in and out of sport who have weighed in on these issues to bolster his case. Then, he provides a handful of recommendations at the close of each chapter. Befitting any manifesto worthy of that label, the recommendations are really the soul of the book. . . .There were many times in these pages where I thought to myself that I would have liked to have written this book. Maybe Reed’s effort will make it that much easier for subsequent books, articles, and policies to be written by those who care, and most importantly lead to sustained action that will not just save sports but also create a more physically active and healthy society." - Sport, Spirituality, Service