
One-city Big Shield book tour is coming
It makes sense, since we're selling a football book on a football website. And it's going to do well, because it's an entertaining story (I believe) on an important topic (I know) in sports.
Gambling. Organized crime. Inside information. Under the right (or wrong) combination, things will get interesting.
The process of getting the word out for Big Shield includes mentioning the book here from time to time. And talking about it on radio shows and podcasts. (If you've got a show and you're interested in a season preview in exchange for a plug, I'm easy to find.)
While I've never done a book tour for any of the five books (including Playmakers) and counting, Big Shield requires a big move in order to promote big sales. A one-city (for now) tour is coming. For one specific appearance.
Stay tuned for more details. Until then, it's time to give away a third free, signed copy from the first box of Big Shield books. Send an email to florio@profootballtalk.com with this subject line: '8/9/25 Big Shield Giveaway.'
Also, preorder the book if you haven't. Even though they say sports novels don't sell, you're already proving them wrong.
It probably helps that the ebook is only 99 cents.
So do yourself a favor. Get a good book for less than a buck. And do me a favor. Drive the sales to the point where those who say sports novels don't sell will need to add an asterisk to their calculations.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

NBC Sports
13 hours ago
- NBC Sports
NFL's looming interest in ESPN will (and should) raise constant coverage questions
For more than 20 years, the NFL has owned and operated NFL Media. The conflict of interest resided in plain sight. And few seemed to regard it as the problem that it was, and is. With the NFL in the process of acquiring 10 percent of ESPN, the vibe has dramatically changed. Anything and everything ESPN reports about the NFL will be scrutinized. How can it not be? While most have barely shrugged at the NFL's total control over its in-house media outlet, the fact that the NFL will own one tenth of a massive, global sports conglomerate will create constant questions about things said, and not said, by ESPN about the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell's recent prerecorded 'nothing will change' message to ESPN employees won't change that. Beyond the reasons we identified in response to the original article, the NFL — without owning part of ESPN — successfully squeezed the network to cancel the popular scripted series Playmakers. 'Everyone feels that it's a rather gross mischaracterization of our sport,' Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said of the ESPN series, before ESPN killed it. Likewise, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said this, in 2003: 'How would they like it if Minnie Mouse were portrayed as Pablo Escobar and the Magic Kingdom as a drug cartel?' Twenty-two years later, the NFL is about to own a piece of ESPN. In other words, don't expect a Playmakers reboot. The recent news that the Spike Lee/Colin Kaepernick collaboration won't be televised by ESPN has prompted a knee-jerk reaction that the NFL put the kibosh on the Kaepernick docuseries. Based on things I've separately heard and sensed, I believe the project was destined to die without the NFL on deck to own a piece of ESPN. But the NFL-ESPN relationship will make reasonable people believe the seeds for the scrapping of the show were planted the moment it appeared the NFL would end up owning part of ESPN. There will also be issues about the timing of certain reports, if those reports ever even become reports. It's fair to wonder, for example, whether ESPN's new look at the physical and mental toll of pro football on the 1988 Saints was originally slated for publication at a time when it would have been more likely to move the needle. Instead, it has landed in the dog days of August. By way of comparison, ESPN dropped a lengthy story about the Patriots on September 8, 2015 — two days before the Patriots opened the season with a Thursday night home game. The publication was calculated to create a maximum stir. And it did. The scrutiny is unavoidable. Anything and everything ESPN reports about the NFL will be run through the 'how did the NFL influence this?' lens. It's a basic reality of the NFL deciding to take a significant equity stake in a broadcast partner. Time will tell whether it was worth it. Roughly a decade ago, the NFL scrapped the tax-exempt status of the league office because it had become a chronic P.R. problem. Put simply, the NFL decided that the financial benefits no longer justified the criticism. When it comes to the NFL's eventual ownership of ESPN (if regulatory approval is secured), there could be a point at which the league decides that the constant questions about the ESPN relationship point to a business decision to cash out.


NBC Sports
2 days ago
- NBC Sports
Get a signed book from the first box of Big Shield
It's out in only three days. And it's been a long road. I started writing Big Shield three years ago. Like the 10 or so other novels I've hunt-and-pecked to completion in the past five years, I started it, finished it, set it aside, and started on the next one. Eventually, we tried to find a home for Big Shield with one of the major book publishers. One in particular suggested a fairly important change. The three-storyline book had two that worked, and one that didn't quite fit. So I sawed off the third leg of the stool and built a new one. The end result was that a collateral figure — the bumbling mobster named Johnny Motts — became a central character. He's now arguably the main character in the story. (For a taste of his exploits and his mindset, here's a free chapter that was previously posted.) Unfortunately (or maybe, in time, fortunately), the change wasn't enough to get the publisher to bite. The common response went something like this: 'We love it, but sports novels don't sell.' Well, this one has been selling. The pre-orders have surprised me (in the good way). I'm grateful for that; it validates what I've been trying to do for the past five years, and it helps me prove wrong those who weren't willing to roll the dice on an objectively entertaining tale of gambling, pro football (NOT the NFL), and the mob. I'm still waiting to see what the NFL will think about this one. At one level, they'll hate it. (For multiple reasons.) At another level, they should appreciate the fact that it will make players think twice about taking a bag of cash in exchange for inside information. (At the Jerry Jones level, they should like that the book promotes the pro football product, at no cost to the NFL.) My guess is that they'll try to ignore it. If you keep buying it at the rate you have been, they won't be able to. At 99 cents for the ebook, it's priced to sell. And if you buy it and read it and truly don't like it, I'll send you a dollar. (I'll determine in my own discretion whether you read the book, whether your answers to specific questions aimed at figuring out whether you read the book were written by you or ChatGPT, and whether at the end of the day you truly didn't like the book or whether you're just looking for a free dollar.) Meanwhile, here's your chance to get a signed copy from the first box of hard copies, which is due to arrive on Friday, August 22. I'll drop your copy in the mail on Saturday, August 26 — along with the other three from prior weekend contests. Send an email to florio@ with this subject line: 'Big Shield 8/16/25 Giveaway.' Include your address and preferred inscription to make it easier for me to get it ready next weekend. No purchase is necessary. But any (and every) purchase via pre-order will be appreciated.

NBC Sports
3 days ago
- NBC Sports
Jerry Jones continues to believe all publicity is good publicity
While it's likely that some within the NFL's overall apparatus will find a reason to formulate four-letter words about things said and/or written by ESPN employees once the NFL owns 10 percent of the four-letter network, one person will never complain. Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones does not care what anyone says about him or his team. He just wants them to be said. Being talked about means being relevant. Being relevant means being interesting. Being interesting means being profitable. 'I do believe if we're not being looked at then I'll do my part to get us looked at,' Jones said at the Netflix premiere of the new docuseries about him and his team. 'The beautiful thing for networks or, if you will, streaming companies, is that the NFL is a 365-day-a-year interest factory. A lot of programming, you have to spend as much to promote it as you do to make it. The Cowboys are a soap opera 365 days a year. When it gets slow, I'll stir it up. 'And so, oh, it's wonderful to have the great athletes, have the great players, but there's something more there. There's sizzle, there's emotion and, if you will, there's controversy. That controversy is good stuff, in terms of keeping and having people's attention.' While some may think Jerry is taking it too far since that approach tends to undermine his presumed objectives, it could be a mistake to presume that his primary objective is winning Super Bowls. His primary objective could be to retain the title of America's Team. His primary objective could be to make as much money as possible by making his team as interesting as possible. The rest of the league benefits from the Cowboys' notoriety. For each of those Dallas games that millions can't miss, there's another team playing. And the higher the Cowboys' profile, the higher the league's profile. As it relates to media coverage, Jerry gets it. Every company that covers the NFL promotes the NFL's product as no charge to the NFL. The very existence of this outlet, which launched 25 years ago next November, has been to promote the NFL's product at no charge to the NFL. That's been my life, for a long time. Promoting the NFL's product at no charge to the NFL. I'm not complaining. I've enjoyed it. I still do. And I've made more than a little money at it. But I've also made more than a little money for the NFL, by promoting the NFL's product at no charge to the NFL. The Cowboys have never complained about anything I've ever said or written about them. And I've said and written plenty of critical things. Of course, not everyone who relies on The Shield feels that way. Some, if not many, prefer the free publicity on their own terms, heavy on praise and light on scrutiny. For that reason, plenty of folks who work for the league and its teams won't be thrilled about my next book, which explores topics the league would rather leave unexplored. But Jerry Jones will love it. Because Big Shield, while an objectively entertaining and compelling story (if you don't believe me, roll the dice with your 99 cents) and officially not about the NFL, also operates as a 385-page advertisement for the NFL's 365-day-a-year product. At no cost to the NFL.