Americans love pro baseball, football, basketball and hockey, but has their passion allowed them to be squeezed in a vice grip? Sports stadiums for billionaire team owners and millionaire players are heavily subsidized by taxpayers. Labor disputes and contract negotiations are reported in the press next to team standings. Corporate sponsorships determine the fate of stadiums. Owners hold cities hostage. Mayors cook up “sweetheart deals” that lavish benefits on wealthy teams while imposing crushing taxes on cities already strapped with debt. Sports economists Roger Noll and Rodney Fort will examine the economics and politics of professional sports.