Matthew Futterman is an American sports journalist whose books examine the business of athletics, distance running, and professional tennis. His reporting career has included The Athletic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and New Jersey’s Star-Ledger. At the Star-Ledger, he was part of the team awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for breaking-news reporting.
Futterman’s first book, Players, describes the commercial changes that transformed athletes’ earnings and the sports industry. Running to the Edge follows coach Bob Larsen’s experiments with distance runners and incorporates Futterman’s own involvement in the sport. His 2026 book, The Cruelest Game, turns to tennis, using reporting on established stars and emerging players to examine the pressures accompanying the pursuit of success.
Matthew Futterman Books
| Book | Year | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 2016 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Running to the Edge | 2019 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Cruelest Game | 2026 | Description / Buy at Amazon |
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The three books approach professional achievement from different directions: money and representation, coaching and training, and the mental demands of individual competition. Futterman’s newspaper experience supplies the reporting method, while his interest in running also gives him a participant’s perspective. He has lived in New York with his family, and his author biographies describe a career that spans general newspaper reporting as well as specialist sports coverage.
Multi-sport Books
Players: How Sports Became a Business: Futterman traces the development of modern sports business through people who changed the relationship between athletes and money. Mark McCormack’s partnership with Arnold Palmer provides a starting point for accounts of representation, sponsorship, player rights, and broadcasting. The book follows the transition from athletes needing supplementary jobs to an international industry in which successful performers could command a much larger share of commercial value. Published in 2016.
Among the episodes are Palmer’s struggle to escape an unfavorable equipment contract, the 1973 Wimbledon boycott over Nikola Pilic’s suspension, and Catfish Hunter’s move into free agency. Futterman also considers the executives who increased professional football’s commercial reach. The book connects these apparently separate disputes through the expanding recognition that athletes had economic value and bargaining interests that existing arrangements did not adequately reflect.
Running Books
Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed: Futterman follows running coach Bob Larsen from California’s developing distance-running scene to work with athletes competing at the highest level. The story combines the experiences of Larsen’s runners with an examination of training, speed, and endurance. Futterman’s own running provides a parallel narrative, connecting elite preparation with the questions and frustrations that accompany efforts to improve at more ordinary levels. Published in 2019.
Larsen’s early runners included the Jamul Toads, an unconventional San Diego group that challenged more established clubs. The narrative moves from this setting toward UCLA and the development of American marathon runners, including Olympic medalists Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor. The account places the coach’s search for effective training within several decades of American running, including periods of enthusiasm, disappointment, and renewed international competitiveness.
Tennis Books
The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis: Futterman reports on professional tennis at a moment when established champions and a new generation share a shifting competitive landscape. Accounts of training and tournament life examine the physical and psychological demands behind public success. The book follows both prominent players and rising contenders, considering how ambition, scrutiny, and repeated exposure to defeat shape careers in a sport where individual responsibility is especially visible. Published in 2026.
The reporting ranges across generations associated with Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Serena Williams, as well as players including Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Ben Shelton. Their experiences reveal the work concealed by the sport’s presentation as glamour and celebrity. Futterman’s concern is the cost of reaching and remaining near the top, where strong performances bring attention and losses can rapidly alter a player’s position.