What can we learn from historical investigations of today's sport organizations? For starters, we most certainly can learn to avoid the mistakes that sport managers made in the past. Granted, sport managers were products of their times, and often, those times were neither inclusive nor forward thinking. In general, the sport industry has been slow to evolve and resistant to change and modernization. As this chapter pointed out, while there have been a few forward-thinking innovators such as Mark H. McCormack, those individuals are exceptional.
The early business practices of professional sports leagues often relied on the guidance of people who were former players or coaches rather than people with strong business-based leadership experience. In addition, sport organizations have lagged behind in having a diverse front office workforce that reflects not just the athletes who compete, but greater society in general.
This chapter described the development of several different sport systems, but there was a primary focus on the development of professional baseball, which produced North America's first professional sports league, the National League. For purposes of this case study, choose one of the other major North American professional sports leagues (the NBA, the NFL, or the NHL) and answer the questions that follow.

Who were the people who played strategic roles in the formation of the league you chose, and why were they important?
What did the early structure of the league look like? The number of teams? Which cities? How did the league grow into the powerhouse it is today?
Out of the four major North American professional sports leagues today, which one do you think has learned the most from its history?

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