"An engrossing microcosm of the internet's Wild West years" (Kirkus Reviews), award-winning journalist David Kushner tells the incredible battle between the founder of Match.com and the con man who swindled him out of the website Sex.com, resulting in an all-out war for control for what still powers the internet today: love and sex.

In 1994, visionary entrepreneur Gary Kremen used a $2,500 loan to create the first online dating service, Match.com. Only five percent of Americans were using the internet at the time, and even fewer were looking online for love. He quickly bought the Sex.com domain too, betting the combination of love and sex would help propel the internet into the mainstream.

Imagine Kremen's surprise when he learned that someone named Stephen Michael Cohen had stolen the rights to Sex.com and was already making millions that Kremen would never see. Thus follows the wild true story of Kremen's and Cohen's decade-long battle for control. In The Players Ball, author and journalist David Kushner provides a front seat to these must-read Wild West years online, when innovators and outlaws battled for power and money.

This cat-and-mouse game between a genius and a con man changed the way people connect forever, and is key to understanding the rise and future of the online world.

"Kushner delivers a fast-paced, raunchy tale of sex, drugs, and dial-up." -- Publishers Weekly
Show Less

• We started tracking this book on August 26, 2018.
• This book was $12.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 6 times in the past 2,422 days.
• The current price of this book is $9.99 last checked 21 hours ago.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $1.99.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on January 31, 2025.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $13.99 last reached on March 4, 2025.
• This book has been $13.99 2 times since we started tracking it.

• Biographies & MemoirsProfessionals & AcademicsScientists

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 274 Pages
• File Size: 16 KB