Preview
  • The Most Expensive Game in Town

  • The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families
  • By: Mark Hyman
  • Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
  • Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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The Most Expensive Game in Town

By: Mark Hyman
Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
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Publisher's summary

A look at how commercialization has transformed youth sports from fun into a heavily commercialized and profitable venture.

Examining the youth sports economy from many sides - the major corporations, the small entrepreneurs, the coaches, the parents, and, of course, the kids - Hyman probes the reasons for rapid changes in what gets bought and sold in this lucrative marketplace. He reveals the effects on kids and profiles the individuals and communities bucking this destructive trend of commercialization.

©2012 Mark Hyman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
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What listeners say about The Most Expensive Game in Town

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The True Cost of Youth Sports

Mark Hyman tallys the price of youth sports in the USA in dollars and lives. From equipment to private lessons, from tournament trips to MRIs, parents are bleeding themselves dry for their children’s activities.

Some parents try to live their dreams through their children. They believe they're investing in their children’s future, led astray by the many corporate youth programs who tell them their kids are the next Venus & Serena Williams— they just need more lessons, more workshops, more camps.

This fine investigative journalism might make you think twice before you send your kid across the country to Lacrosse summer camp.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyed, but wanted more statistics or takeaways

What did you love best about The Most Expensive Game in Town?

Good information. Great to get some insight into some of the specifics that are happening.

Have you listened to any of Mike Chamberlain’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Reader was good. I've heard him to other books, and he's got a perfect voice for statistical based non fiction.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You're ruining your kids lives.

Any additional comments?

Overall I liked the book. However, I wish there was more statistical analysis on what happens to kids who's parent actually spend all the money on sports. I also wish there was more info on how valuable (or lack of value) there is in spending money on kids before a certain age - meaning how much does it actually help to spend 1k on training for an 8 year old.

The author provides a lot of good information, but makes very few statements like - based on this information you should do (or at least consider) XXXXXX.

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