You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
HarperNonFiction has pre-empted New York Times journalist Mark Leibovich’s “tour through the corridors of National Football League power”.
Publishing director Jack Fogg bought UK and Commonwealth rights excluding Canada for Big Game: The NFL In Dangerous Times, from Natasha Fairweather at Rogers Coleridge and White, on behalf of Elyse Cheney in the US.
The book will be published in hardback in the UK on 6th September, to coincide with the first day of the NFL season.
“Big Game is the fruit of Leibovich’s three year tour through the corridors of NFL power, taking in players, owners and the hapless officials who run the sport,” according to a HarperNonFiction spokesperson.
“It explores America's glorification of hypermasculinity at the expense of mostly black bodies and paints a portrait of the drippingly wealthy team owners as their own personal fiefdoms. This hilarious and enthralling book proves that pro football may not be the sport America needs, but it is most definitely the sport America deserves.”
Leibovich is the New York Times Magazine chief national correspondent and was previously a national political reporter in the Times’ DC bureau. He has also worked at The Washington Post.
Fogg described how he “devoured Mark’s brilliantly scathing, withering, hysterical and incredibly revealing book in one sitting”.
“Big Game is not only a wonderfully concise account of a sport in full-blown crisis mode, but doubles as a vivid portrait of modern day America in all its many complexities,” he said. “As a big fan of Mark’s fantastic This Town, I couldn’t be more delighted that we’ll now be working together on his new book. It’s a real privilege.”
Leibovich said: “In my travels through the NFL power structure, it was clear to me that sports' overseers are obsessed with taking this the game global – and this discussion always begins with the UK.
"It would not surprise me at all to see an NFL team placed in London sometime in the next five years, or to see a Super Bowl held there soon. I've met and spoken to countless British fans about American football, and I'm always impressed with their level of knowledge and passion for the game.”