Explore the often-overlooked role of government, media and gambling in shaping the sports industry. Presidential interventions, political controversies at the Olympics, media deals, gambling, and the evolution of pro sports as big business—discover how public policy, taxpayer dollars and politics have shaped the games we watch.  Contains some previously covered material.

• Week 1: Presidential Impact on Sports From Andrew Johnson to Donald Trump:

How Theodore Roosevelt saved college football

Franklin Roosevelt green-lighted baseball to “play ball” during World War II

Jimmy Carter barred American Olympians from the 1980 Moscow Olympics

• Week 2: The Olympics has always been intertwined with politics
  1904 St. Louis Olympics - featured the “Anthropology Days” to prove white supremacy
  1914 Paris Olympics - Women were banned
  1936 Berlin Olympics - Legitimized the Nazi leader
  1964 Tokyo Olympics - South Africa was banned
  1980 Moscow Olympics – US boycott
  1984 Los Angeles Olympics – Soviet boycott  
• Week 3: The role of Media
  1890s – While competing fiercely for readership, newspapers popularized baseball
  1920s – Radio pushed baseball and college football to new heights
  1930s – Radio features the NFL
  1958 – Television gets into the act and pours money into sports
  1961 – The Sports Broadcasting Act is enacted
  Currently – The US Justice Department is investigating the MLB and NFL for alleged violations of the Sports Broadcasting Act
• Week 4: Sports and gambling -
  1919 – The Baseball World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds is enveloped in scandal when several Chicago players conspired with gamblers to throw the games.

2018 - The Supreme Court allows states to independently legalize and regulate betting.

• Week 5: The Development of the Sports Industry -
  How the NFL developed from a smaller “Mom & Pop” type business, and exploded into a monumental industry, helped by taxpayer dollars and television exposure.