During the decades of his distinguished business and accounting career, Fernandez noticed parallels between shady activities in corporate America and college athletics. He believes legal and ethical violations in both these big-money industries should be subject to revelation and reform. In this persuasive and well-researched discussion, Fernandez makes his case methodically, focusing first on corrupt practices in the business world and following with his perspective on abuses and inequities he perceives in college sports. In the business world, he notes positive progress, as misleading and unlawful accounting practices from prior decades have been addressed by tighter regulations. In college sports, however, Fernandez posits that abuses continue, with little collective will and no clear, respected oversight body poised to make effective near-term changes.

Particularly disturbing to Fernandez is the inequity he perceives in a college sports system that earns billions in broadcasting fees for games played by college athletes who are prohibited from receiving compensation. Coaches, universities, and broadcasters are enriched by the sponsorship fees and advertising, yet the students who are wearing the logos and playing the games go unpaid. This sustained and complex dialogue over the unpaid status of college athletes hardly begins or ends with this discussion, and the book’s position might have been enhanced by addressing and debunking the arguments from those who believe the integrity of sports and indeed the young athletes themselves are best protected under the current system. Still, Fernandez offers substantive observations and research to support what emerges as a dirty but unsurprising portrait of corruption by and for the power players of big business and college sports.

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