Andrew Zimbalist

Andrew S. Zimbalist (born 16 October 1947) is an American economist. He is best known as one of the most prominent sports economists in America.

Zimbalist is currently the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College. He received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 1969 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He has been in the Economics Department at Smith College since 1974. He has consulted in Latin America for the United Nations Development Programme, the United States Agency for International Development and numerous companies, and he has consulted in the sports industry for players' associations, cities, companies and leagues. He has published several dozen articles and fourteen books, including:

• Comparing Economic Systems (1989)
• The Cuban Economy: Measurement and Analysis of Socialist Performance (1989)
• Panama at the Crossroads (1991)
• Baseball and Billions (1992)
• Sports, Jobs and Taxes (1997)
• Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-time College Sports (1999)
• The Economics of Sport, I & II (2001)
• May the Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy (2003)
• National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer (2005)
• In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig (2006).

He does a biweekly commentary on the business of sports for National Public Radio's Marketplace.