If you're like me, then you not only love sports, but the business of sports. As we head toward the Beijing Olympics, this weeks' Economist has a fascinating section on sports business.
I'll be plucking bits and pieces from this section over the next week or so but to start, I'll share the latest chart to make you all wish you'd taken up golf as a kid - but aside from that, it also lists the other 10 highest earners in sport.

As the global financial crises mounts, UEFA is suggesting that they will use their considerable clout - in the form of UEFA tournaments - to force responsibility on to clubs in each of the participating organizations.
Currently, the only financial requirements for clubs entering UEFA competitions is that they do not owe money to other clubs and that they pay their staff.

What started out as my personal joke - putting the letters "USA" over the "AIG" which adorns Manchester United's shirts - has now turned in to a newly piqued interest in the business of soccer.
Fresh on the heals of the AIG collapse last month (among others), financial markets the world over have been losing enormous volumes of value and the impact of the global credit crunch is starting to show itself in the FA.

Before last night's exciting finale of an otherwise hot and cold 2008 SuperLiga tournament, officials had been talking up the "one million dollar purse" quite a bit.
Of course in most American professional sports, one million dollars is a drop in the bucket, but (sadly) to the average MLS team, that's no small chunk of change.

Check out Martin Rogers' October 20th piece on yahoo.com called, "The price for keeping soccer recession-proof."
In his article, Martin contends that the economic downturn may prove to be perfect tonic for many of the leagues as they enter negotiations for television deals. Many big TV sponsors are closing their checkbooks so the networks are looking at sure bets.

In what I see as a move with more financial impact than on-field impact, AC Milan are courting another superstar whose best days are behind him, but who is still capable of packing a commercial punch. The latest move is to be a loan deal for LA Galaxy star David Beckham. Beckham's season is over [...