The Sports Strategist: Developing Leaders for a High-Performance Industry
by Irving Rein, Ben Shields, and Adam Grossman, 2014

This book was among the conference swag at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference a few years ago. I finally got around to reading it. I was expecting it to focus more on analytics and strategy in on-the-field performance, but it is actually about managing professional teams and athletic departments off-the-field. Overall, perhaps 2-3 of the chapters kept me riveted, but the other 8-9 dragged on. The best part was the call-out boxes that took deep dives into topical anecdotes, such as how the Dayton Dragons (class A minor league team) have a 1000+ game sellout streak or how the Tennessee Volunteers handled Pat Summit’s early-onset Alzheimer’s. Worth reading and referencing if your are in a management, marketing, or public relations role in a popular company or for a sports organization.