Katie Paysinger
News editor

Randy Grant, professor and chair of the economics department at Linfield, received national attention in a recent article in the Los Angeles Times March 22 issue. He was cited because of his vast knowledge regarding the economics of intercollegiate sports.
Grant’s newest book, “The Economics of Intercollegiate Sports,” was released last spring and is gaining momentum. Grant co-wrote the book with John Leadley and Zenon Zygmont, both Western Oregon University professors.
“My hope was at least one of us would get into the article,” Zygmont said. “I was pleased to see us getting some publicity.”
Kurt Streeter, the article’s author, contacted all three authors and spoke to them about the topic of college athletes not receiving pay equal to their work. Grant ended up being featured.
Grant has extensive background in this topic, as he teaches various economics of sports classes at Linfield. He published several textbooks and has been featured in various journal articles.
“As a professional, it’s nice to get some recognition,” Grant said. “Number one, it gets the book’s name out, and number two, it get’s Linfield’s name out.”
The topic of college athletes is at the height of media attention right now, with March Madness ending. This provides an excellent opportunity for Grant to promote his newest book relating to the topic.
“I imagine [the book] will have great acceptance,” Ben Poppas, 2004 alumnus and former economics student, said. “It’s the only one of its kind, and college-aged students are more likely to read it.”
Zygmont said the authors were not trying to make another standard textbook, but something people would actually want to read.
Junior Ian Ballantyme is currently in Grant’s Economics of College Sports class. He said the article featured information that is precisely what they are talking about in class.
“What is in the article is exactly what I would expect from Randy, and it is exactly what is in his book,” Ballantyme said. “He is an expert in my mind on the topic.”