Making the Majors

The author of this text traces the growth and development of major leagues in baseball, football, basketball, and hockey in the USA, and predicts fundamental changes as the majors pursue international expansion. He shows how every past expansion of sports publics has been accompanied by significant changes in the way sporting competition is organized. With each reorganization, the majors have created teams closer in ability, bringing repetition to competition across time, only to expand and energize the public's search for differences between teams and for events that disrupt the repetitive flow. Leifer's ideas have significant implications for the future of major league sports.