Full Description
One of the most influential sportsmen of the late 20th century, Johnny F. Bassett's marketing wizardry belied his impact on professional hockey and football. A Canadian showman with a Barnumesque flair for spectacle, Bassett challenged the orthodoxy of sports, building sporting utopias in the fatally flawed World Football League, World Hockey Association, and United States Football League. He catered to the common fan, demanded fair treatment of athletes, and forced the sporting establishment to change the way it did business, often to his own detriment.
Drawing on archival research and interviews with Bassett's contemporaries, this comprehensive biography chronicles his life in and around professional sports: his quixotic attempt to compete with the Maple Leafs; his stunning coup in signing three members of the reigning Super Bowl champions for his WFL team; his battles with the Canadian government over American football; his audacious marketing of hockey in Alabama; and his rivalry with Donald Trump for the soul of the USFL.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Preface
Introduction
One—Young Bassett and the Show Business of Sports
Two—Show Business Leads to Sports Business
Three—Battle for the Hockey Heart and Soul of Toronto
Four—No Defense, No Discipline, No More Toronto
Five—No, Canada: The WFL Northmen and Canadian Anti-Americanism
Six—Bassett Becomes a Political Football
Seven—The Best of a Bad League
Eight—Too Good for the WFL, Not Enough for the NFL
Nine—Selling Hockey in Alabama
Ten—Emancipation of the Canadian Juniors
Eleven—Tennis, the USFL and the Bandits
Twelve—Bandit-Ball
Thirteen—The Model USFL Franchise
Fourteen—The Death of the USFL and Bassett
Fifteen—Conclusion
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
