Instant sports books rise in popularity

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AFX) - It's late in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the NBA finals and Mike Pearson is nervously glancing at the clock, hoping the Dallas Mavericks can hang on. Pearson has hundreds of thousands of dollars riding on the outcome.

As he screams at the TV in his living room, he can feel his investment evaporating like an ice cube on a Miami sidewalk.

"Oh, we need you, Dallas!" he coaxes the Mavericks players. "Come on, Dallas!"

A Dwyane Wade shot here, a Shaquille O'Neal rebound there and the Miami Heat win the title.

The victory dooms the plans of Sports Publishing L.L.C., where Pearson is vice president of acquisitions, for an "instant book" on a Mavericks championship. But there will be other championships, whether it's for No. 1 in college football or the NCAA men's basketball title, the Super Bowl or World Series.

Only a few instant sports books -- torn from newspaper headlines and often regional in scope -- are produced each year. Yet they have become popular, thanks to publishers who put titles on bookstore shelves while a city or state (or, in the case of the Boston Red Sox, the entire Eastern Seaboard) is still excited about the victory.

"All the instant sports books do well -- and some do better than others," said Pat Schroeder, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers.

The best example of such success came when the Red Sox ended their 86-year wait by winning the World Series in 2004. Several books came out within days, and each was a big seller.

John Moore, sports book buyer for Borders, said the Stephen King/Stewart O'Nan book, "Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season," had the largest original print run ever for an instant book, around 100,000.

Sales can be big for books on teams such as the Red Sox, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Steelers that have a national following and a storied tradition, Moore said. The Michigan and Ohio State football teams, and the Indiana and Kentucky basketball teams, also draw readers.

Not every championship team captures the imagination of book buyers. Pearson and Mitch Rogatz, president of another major instant sports book publisher, Triumph Books, say Florida teams don't make good fodder.

"We were going to do a book on the Mavericks, but not on the Heat if they won because we've had bad experiences with Florida books," Rogatz said. "We tried all sorts of sports and they just never seem to work."

When the Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros last October, Triumph Books had only to add a few pages and a new cover photo to a book celebrating the team's first World Series title in 88 years. The books were on the shelves in two days, Rogatz said.

"When Dale Earnhardt died, we did an instant pictorial tribute, got it out in a week, and it was No. 1 on the national New York Times best seller list," he said.

Sports Illustrated's tribute issue to Earnhardt sold more than 1 million newsstand copies.

National sports magazines also produce instant books to increase circulation or as premiums for loyal subscribers.

"They've become something of a rite of celebration in championship towns," SI spokesman Rick McCabe said. "In the rare cases when we haven't published a championship commemorative, the local media has grumbled about their team and city not getting the respect it deserves."

Weeks before a championship game or series, Triumph and Sports Publishing -- the two biggest instant book publishers -- strike deals with large newspapers in the teams' hometowns. That may mean preparing the information for books on teams that never come close to a championship game.

The publishers' editorial staffs collect stories and photos, while marketing people come up with a promotional strategy and a design team works on the cover and layout. Others schmooze the buyers at Barnes & Noble, Borders and other major chains and stores to reserve space for the books, which generally sell for less than $20.

A typical press run may be 10,000 to 30,000 copies, Moore said -- comparable to a general-interest sports book.

A Triumph book on Ohio State's football championship in 2002 ran through three press runs of 10,000 books. Sports Publishing, based in Champaign, Ill., churned out three Ohio State books. Pearson said one, "A Season To Remember," went through several press runs and sold more than 100,000 copies.

There are risks. Triumph had 8,000 books ready to ship in time for the 2005 U.S. Open when former Wimbledon finalist Roscoe Tanner, who was poised to begin promoting the book, ran into legal trouble that led to a grand theft conviction. The publisher shredded the books.

As private companies, Sports Publishing and Triumph do not disclose their profits, sales or press runs. But Dermot McEvoy, a senior editor who specializes in sports books at Publisher's Weekly magazine, said they have grown significantly.

"It's just amazing how successful they are," he said.

Chicago-based Triumph, a relatively small publisher, has done so well -- in part because of instant books -- that it was recently purchased by mega publisher Random House.

Instant books -- a tiny part of the overall publishing catalog -- also have followed general news events, such as Hurricane Katrina, the war in Iraq and the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death.

Schroeder, a former Colorado congresswoman, said the greatest instant sports book has yet to be written: a Chicago Cubs championship.

"The dream team is the Cubs," she said. "Can you imagine if they won?"

In board rooms, the discussions have turned toward what publishers hope sports fans will be reading in a few months.

"We definitely have a huge rooting interest," Pearson said. "We haven't placed a bet with a bookie, but we're sitting there biting our fingernails." Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

Copyright 2006 AFX News Limited. All Rights Reserved.